Exploding Star Will Be Visible To The Naked Eye — How To Find It

A star in the beautiful constellation of Corona Borealis will explode before September, becoming visible to the naked eye in the northern hemisphere.

NASA reports that T Coronae Borealis, a white dwarf star 3,000 light-years away from the solar system, will likely explode as a nova this spring or summer.

It’s a predictable event every 80 years, making it a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Nova Vs Supernova

This is not to be confused with a supernova, a star’s “core collapse” that leads to its complete destruction. According to NASA, that can only happen to stars about eight times the mass of our sun. Instead, T Coronae Borealis (also called T CrB) will undergo a nova, an explosion on its surface that flings matter into space but doesn’t destroy the star itself.

‘Blaze Star’

So-called “recurrent novas” like T Coronae Borealis outburst at regular intervals. Known to astronomers as the “Blaze Star,” it last exploded in both 1866 and 1946, and astronomers believe it will do so again before September, according to NASA.

The star, which is usually magnitude +10—far too dim for the naked eye to see—will increase to magnitude +2 during the event. That’s about the same brightness as Polaris, the north star. It may be visible to the naked eye for several days.

‘Northern Crown’

The prediction of a nova in the constellation Corona Borealis—the “Northern Crown”—comes at the perfect time. One of the most beautiful constellations of all, yet little known, it’s high in the night sky at this time of year.

A curved semi-circle of seven stars between the constellations of Boötes and Hercules, there’s an easy way to find it in April:

• Go outside two hours after dark and look to the east-northeast.
• Find the Big Dipper high in the northeast and use the curve of its handle to go “arc to Arcturus,” locating the bright star in Boötes due east.
• Now go diagonally down to the east-northeast horizon—you’ll reach Corona Borealis.

Supernova Candidate

A few weeks ago I reported on Betelgeuse, the closest “supernova candidate” star to the solar system, which has been acting strangely again. This red supergiant, many times the mass of the sun, has a boiling surface and is usually the tenth brightest in the sky. However, its brightness has dipped by 0.5 magnitude since late January, according to EarthSky and Sky & Telescope.

A supernova hasn’t been seen to explode in our Milky Way galaxy since the 17th century. Betelgeuse will inevitably explode as a supernova, but that could occur at any time in the next 100,000 years. While we wait for that, a nova is an exciting prospect.

Wishing you wide eyes and clear skies.