A 'new' star will light up the sky soon and you can see it for yourself
Star light, star bright, will there be a new star tonight? That’s the question astronomers are waiting to answer, as they await a spectacular stellar explosion they believe is on the horizon.
![A 'new' star will light up the sky soon and you can see it for yourself](https://i.cbc.ca/1.7175343.1713291740!/fileImage/httpImage/image.gif_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/nova-t-coronae-borealis-not-a-gif.gif)
![A red giant star and white dwarf orbit each other in this animation of a nova. The red giant is a large sphere in shades of red, orange, and white, with the side facing the white dwarf the lightest shades. The white dwarf is hidden in a bright glow of white and yellows, which represent an accretion disk around the star. A stream of material, shown as a diffuse cloud of red, flows from the red giant to the white dwarf. The animation opens with the red giant on the right side of the screen, co-orbiting the white dwarf. When the red giant moves behind the white dwarf, a nova explosion on the white dwarf ignites, filling the screen with white light. After the light fades, a ball of ejected nova material is shown in pale orange. A small white spot remains after the fog of material clears, indicating that the white dwarf has survived the explosion. A large, orange white star is surrounded by a disk and a smaller star that explodes.](https://i.cbc.ca/1.7175343.1713291740!/fileImage/httpImage/image.gif_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/nova-t-coronae-borealis-not-a-gif.gif)
Star light, star bright, will there be a new star tonight? That’s the question astronomers are waiting to answer, as they await a spectacular stellar explosion they believe is on the horizon.