Will it happen tonight? Soon you will see a huge nova explosion with the naked eye

Astro fans around the world have been waiting for months for a nova to occur in the "T Coronae Borealis" star system. The time is ripe, says Nasa. Experts expect an explosion before the end of the summer.

Back in March, NASA announced that a bright new star - a nova, a huge stellar explosion - would appear in the coming months. This is a burst of brightness in the distant star system "T Coronae Borealis", which only occurs every 80 years or so.

Normally, the system, which is located between the constellations of Ursa Major and Hercules in the northern hemisphere, cannot be seen with the naked eye. During the nova explosion, however, the brightness of the polar star is reached. The last time this happened was in 1946.

The nova explosion is expected by September, Nasa announced in March. Many astronomers are of the opinion that the eruption will happen before the end of the summer. So there is not much time left.

White dwarf and red giant

The star system should be visible to the naked eye for several days and with binoculars for just over a week. According to Nasa, it is around 3000 light years away from us. A light year is the distance that light travels in one year - a distance of 9.46 trillion kilometers.

"T Coronae Borealis" consists of a white dwarf, about the size of the Earth, and a red giant. The dwarf is much heavier and extracts hydrogen from the giant through its gravitational force. In the long term, this causes an increase in pressure and heat, which discharges in a thermonuclear explosion every 80 years.

This celestial phenomenon is not comparable to a supernova, in which a dying star explodes and destroys itself. But it should certainly be a spectacle. Perhaps as early as tonight?