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In April 2024, the most anticipated skywatching event was, of course, the total solar eclipse visible across Eastern Canada and the U.S. <\/p>\n
But the second most-anticipated story was the possible appearance of a new star in the sky: T Coronae Borealis.<\/p>\n
To be clear, the star \u2014 often referred to as T Cor Bor \u2014 already exists, but isn’t visible to the unaided eye. Instead, it was expected to brighten to naked-eye visibility by the end of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But \u2026 whomp, whomp. Nada. Zilch. Bupkus. No big, bright new star in the sky.<\/p>\n
So, what’s the deal?<\/p>\n
“The issue of T Cor Bor is that despite the fact we’ve studied the system for a very long period of time, there’s still a lot of uncertainty regarding the physics of the system,” said Brian Kloppenborg, an astrophysicist and executive director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO).<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782115872_900_default.jpg\")
This star chart shows where skygazers can find the location of T Coronae Borealis. (CBC News\/Stellarium)<\/p>\n
T Cor Bor lies roughly 3,000 light years from us and is part of a binary, or two-star, system in the constellation Corona Borealis. One star is a large red giant; the other is a small but incredibly dense white dwarf.<\/p>\n
As they orbit each another, material from the red giant sloughs off, falls into the white dwarf and heats up in a process known as accretion. But there is a limit as to how much the white dwarf can take. Once that limit is reached, it erupts in a thermonuclear explosion called a nova. That’s when the star will brighten to naked-eye visibility.<\/p>\n
This happens roughly once every 80 years. The last eruption was in 1946.<\/p>\n
“We thought we knew what the accretion rate was. We thought we knew how much material was falling onto the star, but unfortunately, we were off by a little bit,” Kloppenborg said.<\/p>\n
WATCH | T Corona Borealis:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782115873_735_default.jpg\")
This animation illustrates the process of T Corona Borealis’s nova.<\/p>\n
In the case of T Cor Bor, historically, there has been a “high state” of activity, then a return to a “low state” roughly 10 years before an eruption. That began around 2014, hence the 2024 prediction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“[Ever] since then, there have been a number of predictions of imminent eruptions, based on quivers in the light curve \u2026 but [this] never convinced anyone,” Brad Schaefer, an astronomer and professor emeritus at Louisiana State University who has been studying T Cor Bor for decades, said in an email. “Still, everyone is certain that T CrB will erupt soon.”<\/p>\n
Tick, tock goes the clock<\/p>\n
One paper even forecasts that it could happen as soon as this week.<\/p>\n