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- For those of you hoping to witness the predicted stellar explosion we describe in this story, we have bad news. Analysis of archival data released on September 7, 2018, suggests that the two stars expected to collide and die in 2022 will not, in fact, go out in a rare blaze of scheduled glory.
www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/see-star-explode-2022-nova-cygnus-skywatching-space-science
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Aug 2, 2024 · In the second half of 2024, a nova explosion in the star system called T Coronae Borealis, or T CrB, will once again be visible to people on Earth. T CrB will appear 1,500 times brighter than usual, but it won't be as spectacular as the event in 1054.
Jan 6, 2017 · Astronomer Larry Molnar and his colleagues and students have made an unprecedented prediction of a star explosion – due in the year 2022, or thereabouts, they say – that’ll become visible from...
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For the first time, astronomers are confidently predicting how to see this type of brilliant blast, which will be visible with the naked eye.
For those of you hoping to witness the predicted stellar explosion we describe in this story, we have bad news. Analysis of archival data released on September 7, 2018, suggests that the two stars expected to collide and die in 2022 will not, in fact, go out in a rare blaze of scheduled glory. Instead, as San Diego State University's Quentin Socia reports, a typographical error in the archived orbits of these stars misled the original calculation by suggesting that instead of being a relatively stable cosmic duo, the stars were quickly making tighter and tighter spirals around one another. Unfortunately, after correcting that typo, it no longer appears as though the stars are destined to merge and produce a rare red nova, a result that original study author Larry Molar agrees with.
"Good science makes testable predictions,” Molnar, of Calvin College, says in a statement. “There have been a few other papers that have tried to poke at our project, and we’ve been able to poke back—criticisms that just don’t fly. But this one does fly, and I think they have a good point. This illustrates how science can be self-correcting.”
Five or so years from now, you may be able to witness a new "star" appearing in the night sky, a cosmic gem that should glitter in the northern wing of the constellation Cygnus, the swan, for a good portion of a year.
For the first time, astronomers are confidently predicting that a specific stellar system will explode within a defined period of time, becoming more than 10,000 times brighter than it is now. The explosion will be visible from Earth with the naked eye, and it could be about as bright as Polaris, the north star.
The eruption will signal the moment two stars locked in a cosmic dance have merged, exploding into a red nova that will briefly give Cygnus an extra stellar spangle.
Being able to count down to such a stellar wreck is unique in astronomy, which normally involves waiting around for stars to explode and hoping that telescopes are pointed in the right place at the right time.
“This is the first ever prediction of an explosion. We don’t know yet whether it’s right or wrong, but it’s the first time we can actually make such a prediction,” Molnar says.
1:10
Travel Inside a Double-Star System Brighter Than Our Sun
WATCH: Located inside the Carina Nebula, the massive star system Eta Carinae is revealed in this animation.
About 1,800 light-years away, the stars are jointly known as KIC 9832227. They are an eclipsing binary pair, which means as they revolve around one another, each one briefly blots out the other from the perspective of a viewer on Earth.
But as astronomers processed more than a decade of observations, they realized that something odd was happening: The stars were eclipsing one another more frequently, almost as if they were spiraling in toward one another.
Using more than 32,000 images of the system made with a Calvin College telescope, Molnar and his colleagues were able to calculate that the eclipse rate was steadily increasing.
“These changes indicate something interesting is happening to the stars beyond the basic force of gravity,” Molnar says.
The observations echoed what astronomer Romuald Tylenda had seen with the system V1309 Sco just before it unexpectedly went nova in 2008. Yet before an inevitable collision at KIC 9832227 could be concluded, the team needed to rule out a rogue third star and solidify the anticipated change in the eclipse rate.
Their latest calculations suggest that if the speed at which the stars are merging continues to follow the same trend as V1309 Sco, the two will become one around the year 2022. When the stars collide, they’ll produce what’s called a red nova, an eruption somewhere between the brightness of a cataclysmic supernova and a more run-of-the-mill classical nova.
Regardless, the stellar fireworks will be bright enough to see from Earth with the unaided eye.
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- Nadia Drake
Jan 6, 2017 · GRAPEVINE, TEXAS— A team of astronomers is making a bold prediction: In 2022, give or take a year, a pair of stars will merge and explode, becoming one of the brightest objects in the sky for a short period.
Meteor Shower Calendar 2024. Use our guide to find the best time to see shooting stars from your location, and explore our Interactive Meteor Shower Sky Maps.
Sep 7, 2018 · This is exactly what just happened with one of the most anticipated astronomical events of the upcoming decade: the visible merger and fiery explosion of a pair of nearby binary stars in 2022.
Oct 29, 2021 · Mark your 2022 calendars to watch a star explosion. If a scientific prediction holds, you should see a surprisingly bright light in the sky in about five years. By Miriam Kramer on January 10...
