A once-in-a-lifetime celestial explosion may be near — and Canadians can see

Canadians will be able to see a once-in-a-lifetime celestial explosion, likely before September. Astronomers say a star is set to go nova.

A once-in-a-lifetime celestial event may be nearing  — and Canadians will be able to see when it does.

The binary star T Corona Borealis is set to go nova — which it does every 80 years — before September.

The star is normally too faint to see with the naked eye but the explosion, when it occurs, will be nearly as bright as the North Star, according to NASA.

“This is a real, live stellar laboratory where we can look at… all sorts of astrophysical interesting processes,” York University professor emeritus of physics and astronomy Paul Delaney told Global News.

It’s actually two stars — a younger and larger red giant and an older, smaller white dwarf — and its last nova occurred in 1946.

“The stars are close enough that as the red giant becomes unstable from its increasing temperature and pressure and begins ejecting its outer layers, the white dwarf collects that matter onto its surface,” the NASA website states.

“The shallow, dense atmosphere of the white dwarf eventually heats enough to cause a runaway thermonuclear reaction, which produces the nova we see from Earth.”

Delaney clarified it’s the hydrogen around the white dwarf that undergoes a fusion explosion while the dwarf survives.