When is the star explosion that will be visible from Earth in 2024 scheduled to happen?
A once-in-a-lifetime star explosion visible from Earth with the naked eye will take place very soon. Find out when you can witness the celestial event.
Fans of astronomy will soon have front row seats to a once-in-a lifetime celestial event: a star explosion that can be seen from the Earth with the naked eye.
The explosion will take place a mere 3,000 light years away from the planet, near enough to brighten the Earth’s night sky.
The T Coronae Borealis, called “T CrB” by astronomers and also nicknamed “Blaze Star”, is on the verge of exploding and is expected to put on a show sometime soon.
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When is the star explosion that will be visible from Earth in 2024 scheduled to happen?
According to Space.com, astronomers said the explosion, or nova, should take place with a few months of May this year, with some predicting that it will occur in September.
T CrB is a binary star system composed of a white dwarf and a red giant. The system is called a recurrent nova, or one that explodes regularly.
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The event takes place when a star explodes as it interacts with a nearby star. In this case, the gravitational pull of the denser white dwarf will attract the hydrogen in the red giant’s atmosphere. The interaction will eventually lead to a huge explosion, which takes place around every 80 years or so.
The event is able to repeat because the explosion doesn’t destroy the stars. This makes it different from a supernova, which is a powerful and luminous explosion that signals the end of a star’s life cycle, and is therefore a one-time only occasion.
When Blaze Star becomes a nova, it will look like a very bright star to those on earth, and it will remain brilliant for approximately a week.
How to locate the star explosion in the night sky
To find the nova in the sky, you must know your constellations, and have the luck of having a clear sky. First, locate the Hercules constellation, which is between two bright stars- Vega and Arcturus. Hercules has a U-shaped curve of stars west of it called the Northern Crown, which is where you will find the Blaze Star.