A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity
Don't Miss it!
No, I’m not going to tell you about a cryptocurrency meme coin.
I’m not trying to sell you a used car, either.
I know of no auctions of famous movie props or rare antiques.
This opportunity, amazingly enough, need not cost you anything.
The last two happened in 1866 and 1946. If you miss it this time, you’ll probably have to wait until after the turn of the next century for your next chance.
When it happens, it will be explosive…literally.
At 3,000 light years away, the white dwarf star T Coronae Borealis (T CrB) and its red giant companion can’t be seen without a telescope. The two orbit one another so close that the gravity of the smaller star sucks hot gas off of the larger one, and about every eighty years, it eats too much and pukes. The resulting explosion causes it to temporarily brighten to over 1,000 times normal…bright enough to see with the naked eye, yet not bright enough to stand out from the other stars. So, you’ll have to know where to look!
As you can see from the dates I mentioned earlier, it is due. If the nova occurs in winter in the Northern Hemisphere, anyone under a dark, clear sky can easily find it.
At this writing, you can look directly overhead at around 6:00 am. Between the constellation Hercules and the very bright star Arcturus, you’ll find a tight bowl-shaped group of stars called Corona Borealis. Practice searching for T Coronae Borealis just outside the bowl, like a dribble of milk, on the opposite side from the bowl’s brightest star, Alphecca. If you have binoculars, even better! Right after it explodes, it’ll appear about the same size as the red circle on the map below or a little smaller.
Just think—if it happens this winter, and you see it, you can brag that you witnessed an explosion in the sky larger than our sun!
Don’t miss it!
Update: I wrote this on February 1st, just as the constellation Corona Borealis was emerging from its winter foray close to the sun. At the time of writing this update, on April 29th, Grok informs me that this nova has still not occurred. Now, all of us in the Northern Hemisphere of the planet have something to look for when we glance up at the stars on all those warm summer nights.
I gaze at the stars at night, and they tell me their stories. I enjoy lying outside, somewhere far from the city lights, and seeing the sky in three dimensions, as I watch for meteors and passing satellites nearer to Earth. I’ll be doing a lot of that this summer, and glancing occasionally over at where T Coronae Borealis will blow its top!