Of all the celestial happenings coming up this year, there’s one that might be the most exciting. T Coronae Borealis will explode, for the first in almost 80 years. NASA reports that the star-system is expected to explode some time between now, and September.
The last time people witnessed this “nova explosion” was back in 1946. It’s located a whopping 3,000 light-years from Earth, but NASA predicts it will become visible for several days to the naked eye. NASA predicts that it will shine with a similar brightness as Polaris, our North Star.
What is the exact nature of this star system and how will it explode if it does? T CrB is binary system consisting of a white dwarf, the core of a giant red star (also known as a dying star), and a giant red star (also called a dead or dying star).
“The stars are close enough that as the red giant becomes unstable from its increasing temperature and pressure and begins ejecting its outer layers, the white dwarf collects that matter onto its surface,” Lauren Perkins, a media metrics analyst at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, shared in a blog post. “The shallow dense atmosphere of the white dwarf eventually heats enough to cause a runaway thermonuclear…
