A thermonuclear explosion will give birth to a new star in the sky this summer

The beautiful thing about space is that it continues to inspire dreams even after childhood. The heart beating with impatience, the stars in the eyes, the head in the clouds… This is exactly the feeling that invades astronomy enthusiasts today, as they approach a Nova that should occur during September, NASA announced in a press release published on June 6.

The event is expected to take place in the Corona Borealis, the “Crown of the North”, 3,000 light years from Earth. It will be so bright that it will be visible from our planet.

An accumulation of hydrogen on a white dwarf

“Blaze Star” or T Coronae (T Crb) is a system composed of a white dwarf and a former red giant. “A white giant is a dead star the size of Earth with a mass comparable to that of our Sun., details the space agency. Its gravitational pull slowly stripped its red neighbor of its hydrogen.

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The gas then accumulated on the surface of the white dwarf, “causing a build-up of pressure and heat.” This phenomenon can give rise to a thermonuclear explosion called Nova. The event occurs approximately every 80 years on T Crb, details NASA.

A rarely observed event near our solar system

“There are a few recurring novas with very short cycles, but in general we don’t often see a repeated explosion in a human lifetime, and rarely, one this close to our own system“, says Dr. Rebekah. Hounsell, an assistant research scientist specializing in nova events at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

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For the researcher, this event is a unique opportunity to arouse the curiosity of amateurs. Who knows, T Coronae will perhaps create new vocations among the youngest and why a new generation of passionate astronomers.