The International Astronomy Center in Abu Dhabi stated today, Tuesday, that "the world is anticipating a rare astronomical phenomenon represented by the explosion of a star in the sky, which can be seen with the naked eye, increasing in brightness for only half a day before gradually dimming over the course of a week." Engineer Mohammed Shawkat Awda, the center's director, indicated that the explosion is expected to occur at any time now and could continue until September of this year, potentially extending for a few more months.
This phenomenon is known as a "recurrent nova," which is a sudden explosion of a star that leads to a dramatic increase in brightness for a short time before returning to its previous dim state. Awda mentioned that the star expected to explode is named "T Coronae Borealis," located in the constellation known as "Corona Borealis," and is characterized by exploding approximately once every 80 years.
Eyewitnesses have documented the explosion of this star since 1217, with the most famous explosions occurring in 1866 and 1946. It has been 78 years since its last explosion. The reason for the anticipated explosion in the coming months is that observers during previous eruptions noticed that its brightness slightly declined about 1.1 years prior to the explosion, with a fluctuation margin of 0.3 years, which was observed in May 2023. Therefore, we are now at the end of the expected period for the star’s explosion.
Awda pointed out that the sequence of brightness changes during the explosion occurs rapidly, and it is currently shining at magnitude 10—visible only with a small telescope. However, its brightness is expected to significantly increase, reaching a magnitude of 2 within a few hours, making it as bright as the North Star, which means it will be easily visible even from light-polluted urban areas. It is expected to remain in this state for only half a day before beginning to fade gradually, remaining visible to the naked eye for just a week. Observers are following this star daily during this period in anticipation of its explosion.
Experts say, "In the event of the star's explosion and if the sky is cloudy where the observer is located, it is worth driving quickly to a clear place to witness this event, which is unlikely to happen more than once in a lifetime." Awda added that the Khatm Observatory is closely monitoring this star and estimating its brightness with each observation, with results sent to specialized authorities for archival along with other global observation records, contributing to Arab observatories' efforts in documenting such unique astronomical phenomena.
