Everything in the universe has a lifespan – specially giant stars. It might take millions or billions of years, but eventually all cosmic objects die, and humanity might never be able to see what is actually like in the cosmos. The time it takes for light to travel to Earth, even with the fastest travel in all creation, is still not enough to give astronomers and scientists an actual, present image of what it is like – just what it was hundreds, thousands, or millions of years ago. On the other hand, we are able to see some incredible things that happened a long time ago in outer space.
The process of living in our universe
The process of living in our universe is that our sun is included in the list of cosmic objects that will die eventually. It will get so big that it will swallow the Earth, but humans might be around when this happens – in a couple of billions of years. Giant stars are often the things that explode the most in the universe, but not always an old star that went through the whole process of being a cosmic object. Sometimes, giant stars with only thousands of years explode before turning into a supernova due to some other things influencing the explosion.
Giant stars leave behind a big cloud of dust expanding nonstop, and the byproduct of this explosion is not destined to fly around space with no direction, but it can also be assimilated by other cosmic objects in the debris disk. Scientists thought they knew what there was to know about giant stars, but this new behavior coming from two cosmic lighthouses is leaving them speechless.
Giant stars are giving a cosmic spectacle
For the past year, astronomers and stargazers have been holding their breath, waiting for T Coronae Borealis to finally put on its show. It’s a well-known recurring nova that could explode any night now, but still hasn’t. It’s almost like the universe is teasing us. Luckily, it can also be generous. Right now, a brand-new nova has appeared in the night skies — one you can spot if you know where to look. Its name is V462 Lupi.
A nova is a star that suddenly shines brighter, sometimes enough to be seen with a small telescope or even the naked eye. It’s not to be confused with a supernova, which is an entirely different beast. V462 Lupi is what’s called a “classical nova.” Its sudden burst of light came from an act of cosmic theft, spotted on June 12.
In the heart of this system is a white dwarf, the dense, hot core left behind when a star like our Sun finishes its life and sheds its outer layers. This tiny, burned-out star has a companion — usually a red giant — and it siphons matter from it. Gas builds up on the surface of the white dwarf until, under enough pressure, it detonates. The explosion creates a sharp, brilliant flash, making the star seem like it appeared out of nowhere.
The giant stars continue to shine bright
That’s why we call it a “nova” — from the Latin for “new star” — because long ago, when people thought the universe was unchanging, it felt like a new star had just switched on. V462 Lupi shines within the constellation of Lupus, “the wolf,” a southern constellation that’s easy to spot if you’re anywhere south of North Carolina. In those areas, you might be able to find in the coming days.
According to the Astronomer’s Telegram, it was first spotted by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) with a magnitude of 8.7 — too faint for the naked eye. But last week, it jumped to a 6.1, roughly eleven times brighter.