The Blaze Star That's Due to Return
Every 80 years or so, a star too faint to see suddenly blazes out among the stars of the Northern Crown, as bright as the Pole Star, for a few days.
What was reported
On 12 May 1866, the Irish astronomer John Birmingham, at Tuam in County Galway, noticed a bright new star in the constellation Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown. Within days, it faded back to near-invisibility. It's now called T Coronae Borealis, or the Blaze Star.
In February 1946, it erupted again, almost exactly 80 years later. Astronomers have been watching it closely, because it has shown signs of preparing for another eruption, which could happen any year now.
Explanations offered
T Coronae Borealis is a recurrent nova: a pair of stars, one a dense white dwarf pulling gas from a red giant companion. When enough gas builds up on the white dwarf, it explodes in a runaway nuclear reaction, briefly making it thousands of times brighter. Then the cycle starts again.
- When
- Erupted in 1866 and 1946; expected again
- Where
- Tuam, County Galway, Ireland
- Witnesses
- John Birmingham in 1866, then astronomers worldwide
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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