This summer, astronomers will focus on a small constellation deep in the night sky. CNN reports on the celestial event:
“Astronomers expect a ‘new star’ to appear in the night sky any time between now and September in a celestial event that has been years in the making, according to NASA.
“‘It is a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create many new astronomers, giving young people a cosmic event that they will be able to observe for themselves, ask their own questions and collect their own data,’ said Dr. Rebekah Hounsell, assistant research scientist. specializing in nova events at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement “It will nurture the next generation of scientists.”
“The expected brightness event, known as a nova, will occur in the Corona Borealis of the Milky Way, or constellation of the Northern Crown, which is located between the constellations Boötes and Hercules.
“While a supernova is the explosive death of a massive star, a nova refers to the sudden, brief explosion of a collapsed star known as a white dwarf. The dwarf star remains intact, releasing material in a repeating cycle that can occur over thousands of years.
“‘There are some recurring novae with very short cycles, but we don’t typically see a repeated outburst in human lifetime, and rarely one so relatively close to our own system,’ Hounsell said. ‘It’s incredibly exciting to have this front-row seat.’ .
“T Coronae Borealis, also known as ‘Blaze Star’, is a binary system in Corona Borealis that includes a dead white dwarf star and an aging red giant star. Red giants form when stars have exhausted their supply of hydrogen for nuclear fusion and begin to die. In about 5 to 6 million years, our Sun will become a red giant, swelling and expanding as it sheds layers of material and likely evaporating the solar system’s inner planets, although Earth’s fate remains unclear. , according to NASA.”
To read the full CNN article, click HERE.
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