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It's imminent: a unique celestial event is going to take place.

The star known as “T Coronae Borealis”, a nova that shines 2,600 light-years from Earth, is going to explode. A rare phenomenon since it only occurs every 80 years. The most exceptional thing? The explosion will be visible to the naked eye.

In an interview with France Info, the CNRS research director, Philippe Zarka, said: “There's a particular star, which bears the letter T in the constellation of Corona Borealis, which is going to explode and become much brighter. This star is special in that it is a binary, so it's formed of two stars. They both revolve around each other, and gravity deforms the red giant star and makes it project mass onto the dwarf star. This accumulation of mass leads to an explosion of the upper layers of the dwarf star”.

The explosion of “T Coronae Borealis” will not cause its destruction. However, a series of changes will take place. At the time of the explosion, the star will be 1000 times brighter, like the North Star. It will then return to its normal brightness. In addition, its temperature will increase by 100 to 200 million degrees. To identify it, look up at the sky, it's not far from the star Arcturus and the Big Dipper. The phenomenon was last visible in 1946.

Philippe Zarka explains that this explosion is eagerly awaited by scientists around the world. It could well complete their knowledge. “If I can explain to you today that a nova is made of a dwarf star and a red giant star that transfers mass, it's because we have studied it before. Now, we will obtain other knowledge. What is the energy produced by this phenomenon? To what extent is it or not destructive? What is produced at frequencies, wavelengths that were not observed 80 years ago? What is produced in radio? By what mechanisms?”

(MH with AsD - Source: Demotivateur - Illustration: Unsplash)