'Once in a lifetime' nova explosion may create new star in the night sky tonight
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA predicts the next generation of scientists will be inspired by a dazzling upcoming event.
Despite its vastness, space has quite a lot of chaotic things going on all the time and while humanity has only been around a short period of time in the grand scheme of things, we can view some of the most fascinating events.
Scientists at NASA predict over the next few months, between now and September, the world will bare witness to the formation of a ‘new star’ and see emerge in the night sky in a glorious display.
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A nova is the quick, brief explosion from a collapsing star known as a white dwarf, whereas a supernova is the catastrophic death of a large star. The dwarf star doesn't break apart and continues to release material in a cycle that can last for thousands of years.
So the event won't be as violent as a supernova, and Earth is also a safe distance away to be impacted from the event (phew).
This celestial event has been hotly anticipated for years and will mean new scientists and astronomers can prepare and study the cosmic display.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create a lot of new astronomers out there, giving young people a cosmic event they can observe for themselves, ask their own questions, and collect their own data,” Dr. Rebekah Hounsell, an assistant research scientist specializing in nova events said at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, US.
“It’ll fuel the next generation of scientists,” she added.
Dr. Elizabeth Hays, chief of the Astroparticle Physics Laboratory at NASA Goddard, agreed and said one of the brilliant things about events like these is seeing the enthusiasm amongst young and amateur stargazers.
She said: “Citizen scientists and space enthusiasts are always looking for those strong, bright signals that identify nova events and other phenomena.
“Using social media and email, they’ll send out instant alerts, and the flag goes up. We’re counting on that global community interaction again with T Coronae Borealis.”
T Coronae Borealis is a binary system in the Corona Borealis consisting of an aged red giant star and a dead white dwarf star.
As the red giant heats up, it gets more and more unstable, shedding its outer layers that fall as matter onto the white dwarf star.
According to the space agency, the interchange of stuff leads the white dwarf's atmosphere to steadily heat up until it undergoes a 'runaway thermonuclear reaction', which results in a nova.
T Coronae Borealis last had a spectacular outburst in 1946.