A bright new star will burst into the sky in five years, astronomers predict

washingtonpost.com ^ | January 6 at 11:15 AM | Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.

[BenLurkin]

A team of astronomers is making a bold forecast: A binary star found in the summer constellation Cygnus the swan will burst into a red nova sometime in 2022.

When the two stars in the binary system crash into one another, they will create a brick-red beacon so bright that sky gazers will see it with the naked eye, Larry Molnar of Calvin College said Friday at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Grapevine, Tex.

As the constellation Cygnus glides gracefully along the Milky Way every late spring and summer, the cosmic bird’s left wing houses a faint binary star called KIC 9832227. The two stars spinning around one another are merging, on a path to an explosion that will result in a red nova, said Molnar and his colleagues.

[dp0622]

I owned a brown nova and a green nova.

[KarlInOhio]

As the constellation Cygnus glides gracefully along the Milky Way every late spring and summer,

Meanwhile other constellations stumble around the sky, knocking chunks of the Milky Way out and causing meteor showers or now, because of global warming, meteor superstorms. < /Washpost astronomy>

[libh8er]

It already has. It’s name is Donald J Trump.

[KarlInOhio]

Now a little more seriously, I finally found more info on it.

http://keplerebs.villanova.edu/overview/?k=9832227

It is at declination +46.6222°, right ascension 292.3164° (19h 29.27m).

[Tucker39]

You should have experienced a Chevy Vega. It was almost celestial./Snicker

[steve86]

In other words, just about straight up in the sky in mid summer late evening where I am.

[deadrock]

Six Stars of the Northern Cross
In mourning for their sister's loss
In a final flash of glory
Nevermore to grace the night

[BenLurkin]

Nice!

[deadrock]

They are the words of the magnificent Neil Peart.

[Larry Lucido]

Did they hail from the Ford Galaxy?

[Kickass Conservative]

>>>I owned a brown nova and a green nova<<<

My Wife had a Brown Nova. The Color matched the quality.

[UCANSEE2]

So... what scientists are really saying is that THOUSANDS of years ago, they think these two stars collided.

These two stars are somewhere between 1500 and 5000 light years away.

[Trillian]

If it’s anything like my chevy nova, it will light up the nights sky.

[I Drive Too Fast]

I have had starburst candy in several colors.

[dp0622]

ROFL!!! That was a good one.

[dp0622]

They were GREAT for smashing around in though! :)

[dp0622]

lol.

Mercury was in retrograde when I bought mine.

Sorry for that one :)

Mercury’s gone right?

[dp0622]

I LOVE starburst! :)

[roadcat]

So... what scientists are really saying is that THOUSANDS of years ago, they think these two stars collided.

I was thinking the same thing... it already happened! So this is OLD news. We just haven't seen the visual proof yet.