Waiting for the Blaze Star

With galaxy season well underway, I started looking ahead to make plans for what will be rising above the horizon in the months to come. Also on the list of deep-sky objects is the constellation Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown — the host of the expected and much-hyped nova of T Coronae Borealis (T CrB).  

The last brightening of this recurrent nova, also known as the “Blaze Star,” was on February 9, 1946. Its more recent behavior led to predictions that it would flare again in the fall of 2024. (It didn’t.) But according to a paper published in the October 2024 Research Notes of The American Astronomical Society, the statistically next likely eruption date for the Blaze Star is coming up on June 25, 2026 — the day before my partner M’s birthday, for anyone keeping score at home. What a celebratory treat! Even better than a funfetti cake. After that, though, the next likely eruption date isn’t until February 8, 2027.

Normally a faint 10th-magnitude star, T CrB may brighten to magnitude 2 to 3, visible to the unaided eye for a night or two before it dims again. (See the May 2026 issue of Sky & Telescope for a full description of what you can expect.) This brief brightening is what the fuss is all about. We won’t see any great fireball blast in the heavens. In fact, if you didn’t know what you were looking for, you probably wouldn’t even notice it.

But with an eruption interval of about 80 years, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event for most of us. Plus, it’s fun to look forward to something new in the night sky, something I won’t have the opportunity to see again. T CrB will rival other near-magnitude 2 stars like Polaris in Ursa Minor, Mizar in Ursa Major, and Alpheratz in Andromeda.

To make sure I don’t miss it, I’ve had a “nova” alert set up on The Astronomer’s Telegram for a few years. All this time, I’ve been getting alerts about possible novae in M31 and M81 — but no news yet on the Blaze Star.

When an event lives up to expectations, like the aurora borealis visible in Portland, Oregon, it can be truly magnificent and memorable and something that inspires more stargazing. Even weighed against many nights of disappointment — when the recurrent nova doesn’t erupt, or when the aurora is definitely there but above the thick clouds — the wait is nearly always worthwhile once the event happens.

I’m setting a nightly alarm to go outside and look for the Northern Crown constellation as it emerges from behind the neighbor’s wild cherry tree. I did this often last year throughout the spring and summer. I was afraid T CrB would blaze to brighter life while I slumbered and then would dim again before I had a chance to see it. No matter the hour, I plan to blow up my astro-friends’ phones if I’m the one who spots it first.

I remember the excitement of Supernova SN 2023ixf in May 2023, just after I’d gotten my first smart telescope. Seeing that intense dot of light in the Pinwheel Galaxy made me feel connected to generations of ancient astronomers who marveled at the changing skies. For the nights it was visible, I was positively giddy and built as many amateur images as I could. I look forward to doing the same with T CrB.

On the other hand, I’ve been on a nova vigil with this star for a few years now, and T CrB is beginning to feel like the star that cried wolf.

It is going to happen. That’s what the experts keep saying. But each time a predicted flare date passes with no joy — like August 12, 2024, March 27, 2025, and November 10, 2025 — it’s hard not to adopt a “fool me once” attitude about the whole thing.

But the universe doesn’t work on human timelines, nor does it bend to human desires. I cannot stand outside at night, look up at the sky, and will the recurrent nova to blaze to life. (Trust me, I’ve tried it a few times.)

There’s also the trepidation that, when it finally does happen, it will be just kind of meh. But knowing me, I won’t be able to shut up about it. I will drive M up the wall and across the ceiling as I spout facts and figures about the Blaze Star and offer, for the seventh time, to loan him my binoculars so I can show him the nova in the sky.

However, if T CrB doesn’t flare on schedule this time, I guess I’d better have a back-up birthday present for M. Perhaps the Blaze Star can be a celestial goodie in advance of Valentine’s Day, 2027. Regardless of when it happens, I will be eager to see it.