The sky will soon have one new star: may light up between now and the end of summeris called T Coronae BorealisAnd 3,000 light years away And its light turns on periodically, at long intervals that may vary over time. The last time, for example, it appeared in 1946 and even before that he had shone in the 1866. Astronomers and amateur astronomers are waiting all over the world to see it appear again and it is expected that it could be so bright that everyone will be able to admire it with the naked eye.
“It’s a star that lives in retirementbut from time to time it displays exceptional brightness“, astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, scientific director of the Virtual Telescope, tells ANSA. It is therefore a variable star and this recurring phenomenon is actually due to two stars. “There are two actors staging the phenomenon: a cold star and a white dwarf. When the matter of the first is transferred to the second, exceptional brightness occurs”, explains Masi.
Sky map with the location of the star T Coronae Borealis, or T CrB (source: Gialuca Masi, The Virtual Telescope Project)
As happened in 1946 and 1866, this time too the binary system recorded a rapid reduction in brightness, according to a pattern that appears to represent a ‘pre-eruption dip’. According to forecasts, if the pattern repeats again, the nova could occur sometime between now and September 2024. The brightness is expected to be similar to that of the North Star.
Artist’s impression of the binary system at the origin of the variable star T Coronae Borealis (source: NASA LabGoddard Space Flight Center)
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