[Lightspeed]

How to see T Coronae Borealis, the ‘brightest nova of the generation’

A star that hasn’t been seen with the naked eye since the 1940s will appear for a fleeting moment in our night sky this year. The luminous point of light is the effect of an outburst, called a nova, from a star system known as T Coronae Borealis (T CrB). T CrB has charmed many generations of astronomers who have tracked, read historical records, or seen the star. Its previous eruptions have been observed since at least 1217 A.D.

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Typically, T CrB is not visible to the naked eye at a magnitude of 10. When it reaches peak brightness, T CrB will be comparable to Polaris, the North Star, which has a magnitude of 2. (The smaller the number, the brighter it is.) It should remain this bright for a few days to a week before vanishing again.