Miss this once-in-a-lifetime nova, and you might have to wait 80 Years for another chance to see it
A once-in-a-lifetime event, occurring roughly every 80 years, is about to take place: a star in the T Corona Borealis constellation is on the verge of exploding, according to astronomers and recent observations. The most recent event of this kind occurred in 1946, making this a rare event you won’t want to miss.
T CrB, a binary star system located about 3,000 light-years away in the Corona Borealis constellation, consists of a white dwarf orbiting a red giant. When it explodes, its brightness will suddenly increase, making this normally invisible star visible to the naked eye for a few days in the night sky across the entire Northern Hemisphere.
While astronomers have been predicting this event since September 2024, recent disturbances indicate that the explosion is now imminent. According to predictive models, the cosmic cataclysm is expected on March 27, as noted by Franck Marchis, an astronomer at SETI Institute and Co-founder of Unistellar: “Since last September, detailed observations of the star have revealed variations that suggest the imminent arrival of this long-awaited explosion. However, as the study is still theoretical, its conclusions remain uncertain.”
As bright as the North Star, the nova will be visible to the naked eye, but the view will be even more distinguishable through a telescope. More importantly; brightness measurements obtained through telescopes will help scientists to better understand this phenomenon. From London, the Corona Borealis constellation will be visible in the night sky on March 27 and 28. It will rise in the east about three hours after sunset (around 9:00 PM) and will be fully visible by 10:00 PM.
A Citizen Science Campaign
To mark the occasion, Unistellar is inviting its community of over 25,000 users to participate in its “Cosmic Cataclysms” observation program to monitor T CrB and contribute to the study of this exceptional event. The star is already listed in the Unistellar app’s catalog, making it easy to track.
