Blaze Star-- Anyone on this

I'll be looking to try and catch a picture with my ETX 125 , But I got some questions ..

How far is this star away and when did it originally go boom ?

Does it actually have a name ..

Cords for the Corona Borealis where it should be seen .

Also why will the burst only be seen for a few days ?

I'm scratching my head about the light year thing according to science this happened many yeas ago why will the burst from the past only be visible a few days ?

I might be tired been a ruff week so far lol . I want to get set up to record it just trying to create a thread so he who see's it 1st can let us armatures know when to look --- Could be a good conversation .

a reply to: Ravenwatcher

here ya go, T Coronae Borealis, is the name it's not a firm date now and between September look for the big dipper, vega, and aucturus and it suppose to be about the center of them.

forbes link, i'm sure there's better ones was the first one on search page,


‘Blaze Star’ To Become Visible To The Naked Eye, Says NASA

and a NASA link, better link with location

NASA, Global Astronomers Await Rare Nova Explosion

originally posted by: BernnieJGato
a reply to: Ravenwatcher

here ya go, T Coronae Borealis, is the name it's not a firm date now and between September look for the big dipper, vega, and aucturus and it suppose to be about the center of them.

forbes link, i'm sure there's better ones was the first one on search page,


‘Blaze Star’ To Become Visible To The Naked Eye, Says NASA


and a NASA link, better link with location

NASA, Global Astronomers Await Rare Nova Explosion

See I know it's not a firm date but if it happen light years ago how can the predict viewing it if its not happened yet to our eyes

Or is this an event that happens every so often ?

Seeing the burst as it happens would be the greatest thing ever ..........

a reply to: Ravenwatcher

This particular star erupts periodically, and has, for quite some time. The eruption are due to processes occurring within and around the star, processes which are (somewhat) understood by astronomers, to the extent that they are able to reliably calculate when (approximately) the next should occur.


Yes, what we will see in our "now" actually occurred thousands of years ago, but because of the vast distance between that star and our eyes, and the fact that light, such as the light from that bright event, travels only so fast, it take years and years before we can see it.

a reply to: Ravenwatcher

i'm just guessing, i'd say the between now and September is the margin of error their allowing for. and yes it is a recurring event, the forbes aricle says every 80 years, the NASA article doesn't say how often, both say the first recorded sighting was 800 odd years ago in 1217, and the last time was 1946.

a reply to: Ravenwatcher

Talking about T CrB
it's a periodic nova that happens roughly every 80 years
It's believed to be a White Dwarf orbiting a Red Giant an accreting hydrogen off the Red Giant. About every 80 years the hydrogen achieves critical mass and starts a thermonuclear reaction that we see as a Nova. IIRC, it's about 400 ly distant.

originally posted by: LetsGoViking
a reply to: Ravenwatcher

Talking about T CrB
it's a periodic nova that happens roughly every 80 years
It's believed to be a White Dwarf orbiting a Red Giant an accreting hydrogen off the Red Giant. About every 80 years the hydrogen achieves critical mass and starts a thermonuclear reaction that we see as a Nova. IIRC, it's about 400 ly distant.

According to the link posted by BernnieJGato, it's 3000 light years distant, so there are 37 nova explosions already in photons traveling toward the earth, assuming it continues to repeat the explosions at approximate 80 year intervals seen in the past.

It's interesting we have observations from an abbot in Germany who observed T CrB in 1217, and that the records survived and are known today.