A star could explode this week in a rare event visible with the naked eye – OregonLive
A red giant star and white dwarf orbit each other in this animation of a nova similar to T Coronae Borealis. The red giant is a large sphere in shades of red, orange, and white, with the side facing the white dwarf the lightest shades. The white dwarf is hidden in a bright glow of white and yellows, which represent an accretion disk around the star. A stream of material, shown as a diffuse cloud of red, flows from the red giant to the white dwarf. When the red giant moves behind the white dwarf, a nova explosion on the white dwarf ignites, creating a ball of ejected nova material shown in pale orange. After the fog of material clears, a small white spot remains, indicating that the white dwarf has survived the explosion.NASA/Goddard Space Flight CenterIn what’s being billed as a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event, a star in the Corona Borealis constellation could explode on Thursday — and be visible to the naked eye.The so-called “Blaze Star,” T Coronae Borealis, goes nova once about every 80 years. The last time this “recurrent nova” was observed was in 1946, Forbes reported last week.Scientists report that the star appears headed for eruption on March 27.If it does explode, it is expected to be visible for a few nights afterward — a bright spot in the sky that will look similar to the North Star.“Corona Borealis will rise in the eastern sky about three hours after sunset,” according to Space.com. “It will become easily visible around four hours after sunset.”In western Oregon, clouds and showers are currently expected to return by Thursday — but if the unseasonably warm and dry weather expected on Tuesday and Wednesday were to linger, there could be a chance.Oregon is home to the largest Dark Sky Sanctuary in the world, as well as two Dark Sky Communities and an official Dark Sky Park — so even if it stays cloudy in the Portland area, dedicated stargazers have several locations where viewing the nova might be possible.— Julie Evensen covers trending topics and popular culture. She can be reached at jevensen@oregonian.com or @juliecevensen.bsky.social on Bluesky and @julieevensen on Threads.Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025).© 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.YouTube’s privacy policy is available here and YouTube’s terms of service is available here.Ad Choices
