A Sight Worth Seeing

In 2009 a massive dead star exploded in a powerful burst and astronomers were able to observe the star before and after the blast from Earth. The explosion that occurred is known as a classical nova, an event that involves a dead star known as a white dwarf and its’ companion star. When a classical nova erupts, it is noticed because it creates a bright flash of light. These explosions tend to be unpredictable, and previously, little was known about what happens before the burst.

Now, a group of Polish scientists say they have gained new insight into the evolution of classical nova explosions after monitoring a star system over the course of 12 years. In 2003, they began observing the stars located 23,000 light years away from Earth through a telescope in the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. In the 6 years leading up to the classical nova explosion, the scientists say that they observed a periodic brightening of the star system. They say that periodic brightening is evidence that the second star transferred small portions of hydrogen gas onto the surface of the white dwarf, which is a process that is known to lead up to a classical nova explosion.

In 2009, a thermonuclear reaction was triggered, which led to the eruption. Although the star system survived the blast, the scientists predict that within the next decades, the transfer of matter will decrease, and the white dwarf will fade. The star may then fall back into hibernation again for thousands of years until it awakes and then explodes again as a classical nova. However, scientists say that could take another million years!