Stargazers have found themselves spoiled this year, as another “once-in-a-lifetime” event is set to occur in the sky when a dead star explodes, putting on a light show for the Earth.
NASA shared that about 3,000 light years from us is an Earth-sized remnant of a dead star with a mass comparable to our sun that is set to explode at some point this summer and will be visible with the naked eye.
While the exact date of the star’s demise is not yet known, NASA says it is continuing to track it.
NASA’s nova expert Rebekah Hounsell shared that the event will be spectacular, deeming it a “once-in-a-lifetime event” that will “create a lot of new astronomers out there, giving young people a cosmic event they can observe for themselves, ask their own questions, and collect their own data.”
“There are a few recurrent novae with very short cycles, but typically, we don’t often see a repeated outburst in a human lifetime, and rarely one so relatively close to our own system,” Hounsell, an assistant research scientist specializing in nova events at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, shared.
Hounsell said that the event being so close will give us a “front-row seat” to the event, which is different from a supernova, the final exposure that destroys dying stars, NASA explained.
This forthcoming event will see the dwarf star remain intact, but the “accumulated material” will be released into space in a “blinding flash” visible from Earth.
NASA says that this cycle will start again and carry out for tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years.
So, for those looking to catch a glimpse at the solar event, NASA says that the burst of light will be “brief” but is expected to be visible for just under a week.
Catching the first blast won’t be easy, as the timing of the nova is still unknown, and even finding where to look can be tricky.
NASA says that stargazers first want to find the Northern Crown just west of the Hercules constellation. The two brightest stars in the North Hemisphere create a line from one to the other, which will lead viewers to Hercules and Corona Borealis, where the burst of light will be most visible.
“Look up after sunset during summer months to find Hercules, then scan between Vega and Arcturus, where the distinct pattern of Corona Borealis may be identified,” NASA said.
