A 'new star' could appear in the sky any night now. Here's how to see the Blaze Star ignite

[Admin]

T Coronae Borealis will erupt with a magnificent explosion sometime between now and September, becoming visible to the unaided eye. Here's how to find it when it does.

A 'new star' could appear in the sky any night now. Here's how to see the Blaze Star ignite : Read more

 

[Helio]

Cool. And it will be in the night sky through September, at least.

Here is the location: [From Wiki]

 

[m4n8tpr8]

The article writes: "Every 80 years, the red giant propels matter onto the surface of the white dwarf, causing an explosion."

Nitpick: that's misleading. The red giant propels matter onto the surface of the white dwarf all the time, what happens every 80 years is that enough matter accumulates for fusion to start, which causes the explosion.

To be even more correct, it's not the red giant but the white dwarf's own gravity that propels the red giant's matter to its surface. The red giant just tries to expand, but all the plasma that moves beyond the zone where its own gravity dominates ("Roche lobe") falls into the zone dominated by the white dwarf's gravity.