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the The National Center for Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA (NASA, for its abbreviation in English) announced that during this northern summer there will be an event all over the world “Once in a lifetime”. This is the type of “nova” that would occur in a small constellation. According to specialists, it will attract the new generation of astronomers.
In a press release, NASA indicated this The exact date when this event will occur is unknown, but it will be in the northern summer or fall at the latest. For Dr. Rebecca Hounsell, a researcher at the space agency, it is “a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create many new astronomers, giving young people a cosmic event that they will be able to observe for themselves, and ask their children.” Their own questions and their own data collection.
As they explained, The “Blazing Star” is a binary system located in the Northern Crown, about 3,000 light-years from Earth. Land. It consists of a “white dwarf”, that is, the remains of a dead Earth-sized star with a mass similar to ours. sunAnd the “old red giant.” The latter loses hydrogen due to the gravity of the former.
“Hydrogen from the red giant accumulates on the surface of the white dwarf, causing pressure and heat to build up.”specific. “Over time, that results in a thermonuclear explosion large enough to detonate that accreted material.”he added.
Dr. Hounsell explained that a nova event should not be confused with a supernova. The latter is known as “the final giant explosion that destroys some dying stars,” he said. In the first case, the dwarf star remains intact, sending the accreted material out into space in a dazzling flash.
This event has actually occurred at other times and specialists have indicated where to look for it
Nova T CrB, as the event that will occur this year is known, was first seen in the year 1217 Germany The last time this happened was in 1946. Thanks to the patterns, it is known that September 2024 will be a new opportunity to witness the event.
What should you look for in heaven?
During this event, people should look for the “Northern Crown,” a horseshoe-shaped curve of stars west of the constellation Hercules. According to specialists, it looks much better at night. To identify it, you must locate the two brightest stars in the northern hemisphere, Arcturus and Vega, between which the explosion point will be. You don’t need a telescope, but you can see it with the naked eye.
Despite the anticipation, the month of September may pass without imagining the phenomenon. “Repeated novae are unpredictable and paradoxical.”said Koji Mukai, an astrophysicist researcher at NASA. “Just when you think there’s no reason for them to follow a pattern, they do.And once you start trusting them to repeat the same pattern, they deviate from it completely. “We will see how T CrB behaves,” he said.
How common is a nova explosion?
According to NASA, astronomers believe that the frequency at which a nova explosion occurs is not very frequent. They show this on average every 80 years or at the end of the century About two or three supernovae occur in galaxies in our own galaxy milky way.
However, they showed that the universe contains several galaxies. “A few hundred supernovae are observed annually outside our galaxy. Space dust obstructs our vision for most people,” NASA says.
How bright can it be?
Additionally, novae are events that generate a show that generates a string of lights.
“These stunning events can be so bright that they can obscure entire galaxies for days or even months. “It can be seen throughout the universe,” NASA says.
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