‘Once-in-a-lifetime event’: rare chance to see explosion on dwarf star 3,000 light years away

An artist's impression of T Coronae Borealis star system with a red giant star and a white dwarf. A celestial dance between the two about 3,000 light years away will result in an outburst so bright it can be seen by the naked eye for several days. Illustration: Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center/PA

In what is being called a “once-in-a-lifetime event”, light from a thermonuclear explosion on a star has been travelling towards Earth for thousands of years and it will be here any day.

T Coronae Borealis (also known as T Cor Bor, T CrB, and the Blaze star) will be as bright as the north star (for those in the northern hemisphere).