The “Blazing Star” Could Become Visible in Ursa Major
T Corona Borealis, commonly known as the “blazing star,” could brighten and become visible to the naked eye from Earth for the first time in nearly 80 years. This star, located in the constellation Corona Borealis near Ursa Major, is actually a binary system composed of a white dwarf and a red giant star.
According to Ed Murphy, a professor in the University of Virginia’s astronomy department, the red giant has expanded enough for its outer layers to approach the white dwarf and be pulled towards it. As the red giant dumps hydrogen onto the dense white dwarf, it heats up more and more until it reaches the conditions necessary for nuclear fusion. Murphy explains: “Eventually, it heats up enough to undergo nuclear fusion, and when it undergoes nuclear fusion, all that hydrogen that has been piling up on the surface undergoes a conflagration. It all lights up at once, and we get this tremendous outburst of brightness that typically lasts for a few days or a week before it starts to fade.”
Although astronomers know where to look for this phenomenon, predicting when it will occur is more complicated. The phenomenon was first recorded in 1866 when astronomers observed two bright stars instead of one in the Corona Borealis constellation. About a year before the 1946 flare, the combined light of the two stars dimmed. Recently, in the spring of 2023, the star began to dim again, leading several astronomers to predict that it would explode in 2024. However, Murphy is skeptical of this prediction, arguing that there is no plausible mechanism to explain why it would become dimmer before going nova.
Uncertainty of distance and time
The distance to T Corona Borealis, estimated to be between 2,500 and 3,000 light-years, increases the uncertainty about when the phenomenon might occur. Murphy explains that what we are observing now actually happened thousands of years ago, and the light from these events takes all that time to reach us. “What we’re about to see could have happened 30 or 40 more times, and all those signals are still racing towards us, and we won’t see them until the light gets here,” he says.
The evolution of Binary Stars
Despite being a rare phenomenon, the “blazing star” offers astronomers an opportunity to study the evolution of binary stars. Murphy explains that T Corona Borealis is composed of two stars that were born and lived together. The more massive star had a shorter life and became a white dwarf, while its companion, now in the red giant phase, will eventually also transform into a white dwarf. This process, however, typically takes hundreds of millions to billions of years.
How to locate the “Blazing Star” in the night sky
For those interested in observing this potential astronomical event, locating T Corona Borealis in the night sky is not difficult. First, you need to identify the constellation Ursa Major and follow the three stars that form the handle of the “dipper” to the bright star Arcturus. Near Arcturus is the small constellation Corona Borealis, which is shaped like a semicircle. T Corona Borealis is located very close to the brightest star in this constellation.
The importance of studying rare stellar phenomena
Although the “blazing star” is a rare phenomenon, its study can provide valuable information about stellar evolution and the physical processes that occur in binary systems. These events allow us to better understand how stars are born, live, and die, and how they interact with each other when they are in multiple systems. Additionally, observing these phenomena helps us refine our theoretical models and develop new astronomical observation techniques.
