A second “new star” has appeared unexpectedly in the night sky, less than two weeks after an almost identical light point First exploded without prior notice.
These “stars” never seen before light from rare star explosions known as classic novas. Scientists believe that this can be the first time in registered history that more than one of these luminous outbursts has been visible to the naked eye at the same time.
The first Nova, called V462 Lupi, was initially seen on June 12 shining in the constellation of Lupus, after its parent star suddenly became more than 3 million times brighter than normal. Then, on June 25, multiple astronomers detected another Nova, called V572 Velorum, within the Constellation of Vela, according to Earthsky.org. Astronomers normally expect to see a classical Nova once a year, and more than one of these explosions that shine simultaneously is almost unknown.
“This is undoubtedly an extremely rare event, if not historical,” Stephen O’MearaAn astronomer and author who has been touring historical records for similar examples, said Spaceweather.com. “I still have to find an occurrence of two simultaneous novas that appear at the same time.”
The last time we approached the simultaneous novas visible to the naked eye was in 1936, when V630 SGR and V368 aql were seen with a few weeks of each other, added O’Meara. However, “they were not at the maximum brightness at the same time.”
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The brightness of V462 Lupi reached its maximum point on June 20, when it reached an apparent magnitude of +5.5. Since then, the star has been slightly attenuated, but remains above the +6 magnitude threshold for naked visibility. V572 Velorum is even brighter, reaching its maximum point in +4.8 on June 27 (a minor magnitude means a brighter object; for example, the moon has an apparent magnitude of -12.7).
Astrophotographer Eliot Herman He broke the novas using an operated camera remotely in Chile (see above). V572 Velorum, which was photographed on June 27, shines with a shiny blue white light, while V462 Lupi has a purple tone in an image captured on June 26. Novas become red gradually before disappearing because the longest blue light wavelengths fader from sight.
Both the constellations of Lupus and Vela are in the South Heaven, which makes the new Novas easier to detect from the southern hemisphere. However, V462 Lupi can be seen from North America, just after sunset and near the southern horizon. Sailing can sometimes be seen from southern North America, including Mexico, California and Texas, which means that some people in these regions could detect V572 Velorum for them. But it is much less likely.
Objects are technically bright enough to look at the naked eye. However, they will be easier to detect if you have a Decent telescope or a couple of binocularsespecially if you are seeing them from the northern hemisphere.
Star explosions
Unlike supernovae, which are so powerful that they separate completely, a Nova only affects the external layers of a star.
The classic novas, such as V462 Lupi and V572 Velorum, occur in a specific type of binary system, where a more massive white dwarf star is moving away the material of its largest partner. When sufficient material has accumulated on the surface of the dwarf star, the The pressure accumulates and triggers an explosion That burns most of the stolen gas and triggers pulses of bright light to the space, which can sometimes be seen from Earth.
Some novas are recurring events, blowing their upper part of regular intervals: for example, the long -awaited T Coronae Boreal No NovaAlso known as “Blaze Star”, illuminates our skies approximately every 80 years. However, astronomers have been predicting that Blaze’s star will reappear imminently During the last 15 monthsAnd it has not yet emerged, which shows that it is not an exact science.
As this is the first registered appearance of V462 Lupi and V572 Velorum, it is not known whether they will explode again in the future. It is likely that both void in the coming weeks.
Constelanions Question: Can you name all the animals, objects and mythological figures that hide in the night sky?
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