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from https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/a-new-star-could-appear-in-the-sky-any-night-now-heres-how-to-see-the-blaze-star-ignite

A 'new star' could appear in the sky any night now. Here's how to see
the Blaze Star ignite.
News
By Jamie Carter published 20 hours ago
The "Blaze Star" T Coronae Borealis will erupt with a magnificent
explosion sometime between now and September, becoming visible to the
naked eye. Here's how to find it when it does.

A red giant star and white dwarf orbit each other in this animation of a
nova.
An illustration of a binary star system like T Coronae Borealis, also
known as the Blaze Star. (Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center)
A dim star in the night sky 3,000 light-years from our solar system
could soon become visible to the naked eye for the first time since 1946
— and you can easily find it in the night sky.

The "Blaze Star" — officially called T Coronae Borealis (T CrB) — is expected to brighten significantly between now and September 2024 from magnitude +10 (beyond naked-eye visibility) to magnitude +2, according
to NASA. That's about the same brightness as Polaris, the North Star,
the 48th-brightest star in the night sky. (In astronomy, the brighter an
object is, the lower its magnitude; the full moon's magnitude is -12.6,
for example).

The Blaze Star can be found in the constellation Corona Borealis, the
"Northern Crown," between the constellations of Boötes and Hercules. The easiest way of finding Corona Borealis is by first locating some of the brightest stars in the summer night sky.

On any clear night, find the stars of the Big Dipper high in the
northern sky. Trace the Big Dipper's handle of stars in a curve to
Arcturus, a bright, reddish star above the eastern horizon. That's the
famous "arc to Arcturus" star-hop. Rising in the east-northeast will be
Vega. Now look between Arcturus and Vega (slightly closer to Arcturus)
for a faint curl of seven stars — Corona Borealis. It will be high
overhead after dark. Though you won’t be able to see the Blaze Star yet,
it should become clearly visible before summer’s end.

Related: Auroras could paint Earth's skies again in early June. Here are
the key nights to watch for.

constellations illustration

Corona Borealis, where the Blaze Star will appear, can be found between
the constellations Hercules and Bootes. (Image credit: NASA)
The Blaze Star is a rare example of a recurrent nova, which means "new
star" in Latin. It's a binary star system with a cool, red giant star
and a smaller, hotter white dwarf star orbiting each other. Every 80
years, the red giant propels matter onto the surface of the white dwarf, causing an explosion. Other stars do something similar, but not on such
a short timescale.

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Astronomers think the Blaze Star is on the cusp of exploding again
because it's following the same pattern as the last two explosions in
1866 and 1946. Ten years before both explosions, it got somewhat
brighter, then finally dimmed again just before the big blast. That's
precisely what's been happening, with the star growing brighter since
2015, followed by a visible dimming in March 2023. This familiar pattern suggests that another explosion is imminent.

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On February 10, 1946, the Blaze Star was 600 times brighter than it was
just one week before. Once its brightness peaks, the Blaze Star should
be visible to the naked eye for several days and just over a week with a
pair of stargazing binoculars or a good small telescope.

Jamie Carter
Live Science contributor
Jamie Carter is a freelance journalist and regular Live Science
contributor based in Cardiff, U.K. He is the author of A Stargazing
Program For Beginners and lectures on astronomy and the natural world.
Jamie regularly writes for Space.com, TechRadar.com, Forbes Science, BBC Wildlife magazine and Scientific American, and many others. He edits WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com.

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