The Blaze Star
Students using Slooh's online robotic telescopes have been monitoring a peculiar star system every night since March - already capturing hundreds of images. But why?
The star system in question is forecast to blow its top sometime before September 2024 - and they want to be the first to witness this enormous stellar explosion called a nova!
The system is known scientifically as T Coronae Borealis but is commonly called "The Blaze Star." It's rare because it explodes once every 80 years or so. The star system is 3,000 light years from Earth and consists of a "dead" white dwarf star and an aging red giant star.
Slooh's Paul Cox said, "Many novae have been discovered, some by Slooh members, but few are known to be recurrent - so this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students and members to witness and capture this rare cosmic event using Slooh's live telescopes."
Watch our Slooh This Week episode from April 22, where Paul Cox introduces students to The Blaze Star and the opportunity to be the first to witness it!
So What Are Slooh Students Going To See?
When the nova eruption occurs, the star system will rapidly brighten from around magnitude 10 to magnitude 2 - the same brightness as the pole star Polaris. Students monitoring The Blaze Star will expect to see this rapid brightening, and many are eager to be the first to capture this rare cosmic event.
Slooh student EdwinD shared this Observation when he learned about The Blaze Star while watching Slooh This Week.
He chose it as his first-ever object to schedule using Slooh's robotic telescopes!
Members can read Edwin's full Observation here.
What Causes a Nova Explosion?
White dwarf stars have masses similar to the Sun's but are a hundred times smaller - around the size of the Earth. This relationship makes the white dwarf's gravity especially strong.
As the aging red giant star ejects matter, the white dwarf's gravity captures and accumulates it on its surface. But it reaches a limit, and when that happens, it erupts in a thermonuclear reaction, and the white dwarf blows its top - ejecting the matter into space. As it does so, the white dwarf outshines its companion, and the overall light from the star system can increase by a factor of tens of thousands. This process typically takes thousands of years, but The Blaze Star does it much more rapidly.
This Observation, shared by long-time member Carol Botha, identifies The Blaze Star in her image captured using the Canary Two Wide-Field telescope.
Members can read Carol's full Observation here.
Watch It Live!
Slooh will broadcast a live Star Party in the run-up to the event and hold a special Star Party to celebrate this rare event when it finally blows!
Slooh Members can register to watch the live feed on the Slooh app. Still waiting to be a member? Discover Slooh
Non-members can watch via our live feed on YouTube.
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