'Once-in-a-lifetime' cosmic event to take place this summer

An illustration of a nova event similar to the one we'll see this summer, including a white dwarf star and a red giant

A star some 3,000 light-years away will explode in a "once-in-a-lifetime" cosmic event this summer, according to astronomers at Nasa.

T Corona Borealis, known as the Blaze Star, is expected to erupt this summer – creating a light so bright we'll be able to see it from Earth.

This type of explosion is called a nova event.

“It’s incredibly exciting to have this front-row seat," said Nasa's Dr Rebekah Housell.

What will cause the Corona Borealis nova explosion?

The explosion will happen in the Corona Borealis binary system.

That's when two stars orbit each other – in this case, the two stars are a white dwarf and a red giant.

It's the white dwarf star, called T Corona Borealis, that astronomers are expecting to erupt.

Yes, that's the T Corona Borealis star in the Corona Borealis system. Confusing!

Can you spot the Corona Borealis?

The star is about the size of the Earth but has a much a larger mass which is similar to our Sun.

This means it has a very strong gravitational pull.

As a result, T Corona Borealis pulls hydrogen from the neighbouring red giant star onto its own surface.

As more and more hydrogen gathers on its surface, heat and pressure will build up – eventually triggering an explosion.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create a lot of new astronomers out there," said Dr Hounsell, an assistant research scientist specialising in nova events at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

She said it would give "young people a cosmic event they can observe for themselves, ask their own questions, and collect their own data".