Breaking News: Humans Can Witness Giant Explosion In Space This Year

SDN

Now that the solar eclipse has passed, there is another celestial event on the calendar later this year - and it involves a massive explosion 3,000 light years from Earth... Astronomers will get the rare once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the binary star system in the constellation T Corona Borealis - "northern crown" - light up the night sky, caused by an exchange between two stars which will give it the appearance of a new star. Normally, Corona Borealis is too dim to see with the naked eye, but this runaway nuclear explosion should be visible to the unaided eye for several days and just over a week at the peak of its brightness with binoculars before it dims again, according to NASA which says it will look as bright as the North Star when it appears in the sky. The last time the explosion occurred was 78 years ago in 1946 and after this year, it will be another 80 years (year 2104) until the next one - so a long wait if you miss out. It is only the third time humans have witnessed this event, Irish polymath John Birmingham first discovered it back in 1866. Sumner Starrfield, an astronomer at Arizona State University is rushing to finish a scientific paper on predictions for the recurring nova when it reappears soon, Since the 1960s, he has worked on T Coronae Borealis and told AFP he is very excited to see the nova's impending "outburst". "I could be today... but I hope it's not," he said with a laugh.