A star that astronomers have been waiting months to explode is finally due for the starry blast. The binary star system T Coronae Borealis (T CrB), also known as the Blaze Star, is set to undergo a fiery explosion on March 27. The star is located 3,000 light-years from Earth and witnesses the recurring nova every 79 years.

Advertisment

NASA has been keeping an eye on the binary star system for years. According to the space agency, T Coronae Borealis has been behaving in a similar fashion it did in the time preceding its previous explosion nearly 80 years ago.

The blast has been due to happen since February 2024, but astronomers did not have a clear date in sight. Stargazers and astrophotographers have been glued to the constellation where the star system lives. They have finally reached the point where the majestic starry sight awaits them.

Also Read: When Theia smashed into Earth: The common DNA Moon and our planet share

Advertisment

Paper that predicted the date of star explosion

A paper published in 2024 in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society stated that the star is likely to explode on March 27. While NASA was monitoring the star's behaviour in the past few years to understand when it might explode, researchers at the Paris Observatory looked at the orbital data. Jean Schneider noted the dates of previous explosions and combined them with the orbital dynamics of the star system. 

Also Read: James Webb captures multiple gas giant planets, finds carbon dioxide

Advertisment

They found that the nova explosions happened after the stars completed a specific number of orbits around each other. According to their data, T CrB has an orbital period of around 227 days, and it explodes once every 128 orbits. This led them to calculate that the next date of the explosion is March 27, 2025. 

Next date for star explosion

However, there is a chance that the star might not explode on March 27. Schneider has offered two alternate dates the occurrence could happen - November 10, 2025 and June 25, 2026. Notably, August 12 last year was the first date mentioned in the paper, but the star gave it a miss. Astronomers are waiting to see if the next date, that is, March 27, is the day the star explodes. His calculations are based purely on numbers and no other observations of the star.

Cosmic dance between white dwarf and red giant

The T CrB comprises a white dwarf and an ancient red giant star. The latter is 1.12 times the mass of our Sun and orbits the white dwarf. The white dwarf is exerting gravitational pull on the red giant, stripping it of its hydrogen. An accretion disk consisting of material from the red giant star swirls around the white dwarf. As this material gathers, pressure and heat also build up, triggering a thermonuclear explosion. The first time the explosion was seen by humans was more than 800 years ago.