Rare celestial event will light up the sky in a once-in-a-lifetime event that will dazzle

A duo of stars positioned within a distant constellation are slated to explode in the coming months, according to astronomers. Termed as T Coronae Borealis, or T CrB by those in the star-gazing profession, this dual system is composed of a white dwarf and a red giant partner.

Every eighty years, an accumulation of heat and pressure gives rise to an explosion that manifests itself as a bright speck in our night sky. However, the exact timing of this brilliant event remains unknown to scientists.

Some suggest it could erupt as soon as September 2024, becoming the inaugural celestial explosion of the century. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create a lot of new astronomers out there, giving young people a cosmic event they can observe for themselves, ask their own questions, and collect their own data," commented Dr. Rebekah Hounsell, Assistant Research Scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

READ MORE: Some drivers to pay £100 more car tax in 2024 as experts demand change

Don't miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the BirminghamLive newsletter here.

However, eager spectators are forewarned to remain vigilant as the explosive display will be fleeting the erupted star will only be discernible with a naked eye for approximately a week. T Coronae Borealis is nestled in the 'Northern Crown', a U-shaped group of stars located some 3,000 light-years from us.

Fortunately for astronomy enthusiasts, locating this constellation on clear nights is straightforward. It finds itself comfortably positioned between two heavyweight constellations Hercules and Bootes.

The starting point involves identifying the two brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere - Arcturus and Vega. Drawing a straight line between these two stellar points will lead directly to Corona Borealis, reports the Sun.

Alternatively, downloading the Night Sky application and typing in the name of the constellation provides an easier route.

Stargazing enthusiasts can use apps like Night Sky to simulate the night sky and track celestial bodies from their location.

T CrB, a binary star system, consists of a white dwarf and an ageing red giant. The white dwarf is Earth-sized but has the Sun's mass, exerting a powerful gravitational pull on its companion.

This force strips hydrogen from the red giant, accumulating on the white dwarf, leading to intense pressure and heat buildup.

Eventually, this results in a massive thermonuclear explosion that ejects the hydrogen, with the process repeating roughly every 80 years.

Known as a nova, T CrB dramatically brightens before slowly returning to its initial luminosity, distinct from a supernova which marks a star's demise.

The earliest known observation of T CrB's nova was in 1217 when a German monk recorded seeing "a faint star that for a time shone with great light."

Irish astronomer John Birmingham is credited with discovering the nova after observing its eruption in 1866, shortly before his passing.

The last significant increase in brightness from T CrB occurred in 1946. Its recent activity suggests it may soon erupt again, echoing the pattern seen before the previous outburst.

Despite this, even seasoned scientists like NASA Goddard's astrophysics researcher Dr. Koji Mukai find recurrent novae to be "unpredictable and contrarian".

"When you think there can't possibly be a reason they follow a certain set pattern, they do and as soon as you start to rely on them repeating the same pattern, they deviate from it completely," he said. "We'll see how T CrB behaves."