Our night sky will soon have a temporary "new star" when T Coronae Borealis goes nova. T Coronae Borealis, or T Cor Bor for short, is a a white dwarf about 3,000 light years from earth. It sucks up material from red giant star relatively nearby, and explodes into a nova every 80 years. The indications are there that this may happen soon. There are records from previous nova explosions, but the last time it happened, we had no no X-ray or gamma-ray telescopes to record the data.
T Cor Bor is not the only "dead" star to have intermittent novas, but the others either go much longer between novas or are more unpredictable. And there are most likely many that are too far away for us to know about. When the nova happens, the explosion will be as bright to observers on earth as Polaris, the North Star. Stargazers will be able to see it with just our eyes for a few days, or with telescopes for longer. But astronomers will track and collect data from the nova for months. Read a longer explanation of what is expected at Space.com. -via Damn Interesting
(Image credit: NASA/Conceptual Image Lab/Goddard Space Flight Center)
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