'Brace for T CrB': Doomed vampire star could explode any night now
Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Credit: NASA
Star Countdown
T Coronae Borealis may explode in the next year—an ultra-rare event naked to the human eye, last seen in 1946. Some say March 27, 2026; others say it's already brewing.
Credit: NASA
Binary Vampire
A white dwarf is draining a red giant in a violent stellar tango. This cosmic theft builds pressure until a thermonuclear outburst lights up the sky—again.
Skyfire Trigger
The 2023 dimming followed an 8-year brightening—matching past pre-nova behavior. NASA calls this “super-active,” the likely prelude to an epic stellar flash.
Representative pic
Nova Pattern?
Astronomer Jean Schneider suggests a hidden third star may influence the timing of eruptions—but not everyone agrees, and no third body has been found.
Representative pic
Ghost Companion
If Schneider is right, a secret object in an 80-year orbit may amplify material flow and trigger novas. So far, the cosmos is keeping its secrets.
Representative pic
Brightness Surge
When T CrB explodes, it may brighten 6,000x in hours—rising from magnitude 10 to 2, matching stars in the Big Dipper. Telescopes worldwide are already aimed.
Science Showdown
Planquart’s decade of radial velocity data shows no third companion—contradicting Schneider’s orbital theory. The stellar drama is not just in space.
Representative pic
Supernova Looms
At 1.37 solar masses, the white dwarf is nearing the Chandrasekhar limit. One day, it will no longer flare—it will shatter, ending in a final supernova.
Representative pic
Eye on Crown
Look to the Northern Crown. That’s where this star may flare to life again, dazzling naked-eye observers with an explosion 3 centuries in the making.