T Cor Bor: Astronomers await dazzling celestial show

Astronomers are poised to see a star system about 3,000 light years away explode into brightness.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewslettersAstronomers ready for dazzling but brief celestial show after 80-year waitBBC/Tony JolliffeAstronomers are poised to catch a star that only shines about once every 80 yearsOn a cold February night in 1946, a 15-year-old schoolboy made a surprising discovery as he peered out of his bedroom window.

Michael Woodman, a keen amateur astronomer from Newport, had stayed up late waiting for his father to come home when he noticed something strange in the night sky.

"There was the constellation of Corona Borealis, but in the ring of the Corona, the second star down was bright - very bright," he explains.

"And I thought 'I've never seen anything like that before.'"

The next morning he wrote to the Astronomer Royal. The now 94-year-old smiles as he recalls the memory, surprised that his teenage self would be so bold.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c140exemgk7o

---