"Terrifyingly bright": For every visible mega explosion in the night sky is expected

Spectacular events in the night sky are expected to last around a month: US researchers predict the brightest star to appear at the end of the century.

• Astronomers expect a spectacular event at the end of the century
• "V Sagittae" is to become the brightest star of the Milky Way for around a month
• So far, the celestial body can hardly be seen even with a telescope

Baton Rouge - So far, the star " V Sagittae " (also called "V Sge") can hardly be found even with a medium-sized telescope in the night sky - but that will change dramatically at the end of the century, according to US researchers. As astronomers from Louisiana State University (LSU) have found out, this relatively inconspicuous double star from the "arrow" constellation will merge or explode around 2083 and become the brightest star in the Milky Way. It should even outshine the brightest star "Sirius" so far. LSU researchers Bradley E. Schaefer, Juhan Frank and Manos Chatzopoulos presented their forecast for the first time at the 235th session of the American Astronomical Society in Hawaii.

Universium: "Brightest star" - It is difficult to accurately predict the time of the explosion

Interesting forecast at a press conference during the big astronomer conference # AAS235 in Hawaii - at the end of the decade, the narrow double star V Sagittae will merge and explode. And then shine as brightly as Sirius or Venus: https://t.co/qfIvBCZM2k

"Over the next few decades, the star will quickly light up," says emeritus LSU professor Bradley E. Schaefer. The researchers state the year 2083 as the date for the explosion in space - but this is not an exact prediction. According to the experts from Louisiana State University, the maximum brightness can also occur 16 years earlier or later. "The merger is expected to take place between 2067 and 2099, most likely in the middle of this period," says LSU astronomy professor Juhan Frank. The maximum brightness should last for around a month. In some cases, star explosions can also affect Earth.

V Sagittae in the Milky Way: A “completely unique” star system in space

Binary star V Sagittae to explode as very bright nova by century's end @lsu https://t.co/gAMnk8pFap

"V Sge" is a special star system , the class is called "Cataclysmic Variables" (CVs). It consists of a normal star orbiting a white dwarf star. The mass of the normal star slowly falls on the white dwarf. The special thing about “V Sge” is that the normal star has almost four times more mass than the White Dwarf. "In all other CVs, the white dwarf is more massive than the normal star, so" V Sge "is completely unique," says Schaefer. The star will appear “terrifyingly bright” in the night sky at the predicted time, the astronomer predicts the development in the universe . "Much brighter than the brightest known Nova just over a century ago."

The US researchers came to their prediction through routine measurements of the brightness of "V Sge" on old sky photos , which are now archived in the Harvard College Observatory and date back to 1890.

Just recently, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) also made a spectacular discovery in space.

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