Every 80 years, a new nova star appears in the sky. It is a once in a lifetime event. And now the time is near. It could happen in the next few days or it could be months.
Astronomers say the new nova ‘T Coronae Borealis’ will be bright enough to be visible to the naked eye for a week and then quickly disappear. prepare to reappear in the next 80 years
The cause of this amazing phenomenon is what is called “hyperthermia”. This ‘repetitive nova’ called ‘T Coronae Borealis’ or T CrB for short, is a binary star system orbiting each other in the constellation.The Northern Crown Constellation (Corona Borealis or Northern Crown) located about 3,000 light years away from Earth.
This regenerative nova is different from classical novae, as they are often called. A ‘Supernova’ is a phenomenon that occurs when a star comes to an end and explodes. Regenerative novae erupt more frequently than supernovae. Scientists have identified only 10 such repeating novae in the Milky Way galaxy, and in the case of T Coronae Borealis, it last exploded in 1946, so it is now close to the time.
What caused this object in the universe to explode?
The T CrB phenomenon is not the result of a star collapsing and exploding. Rather, it is a movement in the sky between two dying stars orbiting each other. One of the stars is a larger red giant. There is a mass similar in size to the sun in our solar system. But it loses mass and matter. These include hydrogen and helium.
Some of the material that escapes falls on the white dwarf that surrounds it. which is about the same size as Earth But it has 40 percent more material than the sun, making it very dense.
As the white dwarf swallows up its friend’s material, its temperature will continue to rise with ever-increasing density. Then, eventually, every 80 years or so, it will reach a critical point. It triggers a powerful nuclear fusion reaction that creates a bright explosion that can be seen far out in the universe.
“We will follow it. and he saw that he was doing something fun. ” Sumner Starfield (Sumner Starrfield, Professor at Arizona State University said a person who studied this star system all his life.
“It went up a few times and now it’s gone down a bit. It seems to be doing the same thing it did before the explosion in 1946, which is why we suddenly became more interested in it,” he said in other words, in 1946 the star system bright and then dimmed a bit Before the big bang This is a sign that is happening now as well. That excites today’s astronomers.
So when will it appear? And how do you see it?
No one can tell clearly about the specific time. When will T Coronae Borealis erupt? Until September As Professor Starfield noted this was a good measure. And it may be years before we see an explosion in the sky. But when it happened We can only hope that the people of the world will not miss this opportunity.
“It peaked very quickly,” said Bradley Schaefer, professor emeritus at Louisiana State University. “It will be[a’ tachairt]for a short time, maintaining the maximum brightness for only a few hours,” explained one of the main academics of T CrB. and it will begin to fade quickly Then it will disappear until it is not visible to the naked eye in just a week. ”
So if you want to see it with the naked eye, you only have a few nights for astronomers, When it explodes There will be a close study. The Starfield team has already booked time with the James Webb Space Telescope to observe and provide deep data.
But scientists have been helped by a network of amateur astronomers using their own back-to-back telescopes, such as the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), who have been keep a close eye on him in the last few years
They upload new data to the central station on average every 10 minutes, giving scientists regular updates on how clear the system is. And there is no doubt that if there is an explosion, they will be among the first to see it.
“The reason so many people watch is because people like to see things explode,” said Brian Kloppenberg, executive director of the AAVSO. the first event.”
But Professor Schaffer has plans of his own. He was determined not to miss the opportunity as soon as he received the news. In 1946, the astronomer who had predicted the T CrB phenomenon, Leslie Peltier, unfortunately missed the event. Because of the cold weather But this time astronomers around the world hope that will not be the case.
When it explodes, they expect T CrB to be as bright as Polaris, the brightest point in the famous Little Dipper constellation.
“Of course, I would go out to a dark, bright place for the first time[sprèadhadh]because I wanted my observations to be able to look at that light curve,” said Schaffer You don’t need a telescope. But all you have to do is walk outside on a dark, clear night and look up.”
Researched and edited by Witit Borompichaichartkul
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