Rare star explosion to occur in the night sky that can be seen with the naked eye

A rare star explosion will occur in our night sky in the coming months, offering stargazers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness the phenomenon with the naked eye. The star, T Coronae Borealis, or T CrB, is located 3,000 light years away from Earth in the Northern hemisphere’s expanse and is on the brink of an intense outburst, reported Earth.com.

The event will take place later this year and will lead to the shining of a part of the sky for approximately one week. The exact timing of the explosion is unclear. But the American space agency NASA predicts the D-day to be between now and September.

The forthcoming eruption, categorised as a nova, signifies a rare celestial phenomenon that occurs approximately once every century.

This event happens when a white dwarf star, comparable in size to the sun but collapsed, and a red giant star, nearing the end of its lifecycle and expanding to roughly 74 times the sun’s size, approach each other too closely.

This close proximity leads to a significant rise in the red giant’s surface temperature, soaring from about 4,000 to 5,800 degrees Fahrenheit to an extraordinary 360,000 degrees Fahrenheit, prompting T CrB to shed its outer layers onto the surface of the white dwarf.

The accumulation of material from the red giant triggers a nuclear explosion, unleashing an energy burst up to 100,000 times greater than the sun’s annual output.

In contrast to a supernova, which completely destroys the star, a nova like T CrB's does not obliterate the star system. Instead, the star gradually cools back down to its original temperature and resumes its cycle.

Historical records indicate notable eruptions of T CrB dating back to 1946 and even 1866, with earlier accounts suggesting observations dating back several centuries.

Notably, Reverend Francis Wollaston in 1787 and Abbott Burchard in 1217 documented witnessing a luminous star in the Corona Borealis constellation, hinting at earlier appearances of T CrB.