A “new” star may flare up in the sky, which will shine brighter than Polaris

According to astronomers, from May to September 2024, a “new” star may appear in the constellation Corona Borealis, which will shine, competing in brightness with Polaris. Its light can be observed with the naked eye for about five days.

Such cosmic events are not uncommon, but the binary system T Coronae Borealis, consisting of a white dwarf and a red giant, which will create the effect of the appearance of a “new” star, is extremely interesting. The fact is that its outbursts recur with amazing frequency, about once every 80 years. The last time earthlings saw such an outbreak was in 1946, and before that in 1866.

And now, decades later, astronomers are again observing the harbingers of an outburst: an increase and then a sharp decrease in the brightness of the binary system. The flare will occur when the hydrogen stream ejected into space by the red giant and captured by the white dwarf begins to fall in increasing numbers on the surface of the white dwarf. A thermonuclear reaction takes place there, which observers will notice in the form of a short flash.