A new Polaris is about to erupt in the sky

Astronomers report the approach of a rare cosmic phenomenon – in the night sky will soon appear in the star T Coronae Borealis (T CrB), not inferior in its brightness Polaris. Observers will be able to see its glow in the constellation Northern Crown, without using any optical devices. This event should be tried not to miss, because the next such flare will be only in 8 decades.

T Coronae Borealis is available for observation with strong binoculars now. Its brightness is about +10 star magnitude, but will increase sharply to +2 at the time of the outburst. Flares occur regularly with a period of 80 years – they have been observed twice in recorded history. The last such outburst occurred in 1946. It is expected that the next burst of luminosity lasting several days will take place from March to September of this year.

Cyclicality of flares is quite understandable. The fact that T CrB is a double star system. Forming its stars rotate in a close orbit – the dwarf star absorbs the gas actively emitted by the red giant. This continues until a volume of gas sufficient for a powerful thermonuclear explosion is accumulated. These explosions, occurring at intervals of 80 years, Earth stargazers and observe in the form of a bright flash.

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