The stellar explosion of a binary star can be visualized from Puerto Rico looking south, where it will be seen as a faint star in the constellation of Lupus, the Caribbean Astronomical Society (SAC).
A binary star is a stellar system consisting of two stars that are gravitationally linked and that orbit each other around a center of common mass.
“The interesting thing about this event is that the binary star that has caused the explosion was so dim and opaque that it was not even visible in 14 or 16 inches telescopes in diameter, considered as large telescopes. But now, now, The apparent star that has appeared in the sky is at the edge of visibility with the naked eye from dark places, and we even managed to detect it last night from the island“The SAC said through a press release.
The scientific organization explained that it is a system called “V462 Lupi”. The star phenomenon occurred when a white dwarf star accumulated gases of a nearby red giant star (which make up the double or binary star), to the point where it overlaced, producing a thermonuclear reaction caused a remarkable increase in brilliance. This allowed to see the explosion.
“By saying that we can see a Nova, even with the naked eye, it should be noted that we cannot have high expectations of achieving something very bright in heaven, because it really looks like an apparent more star, currently dim but perhaps slightly brighter in the next nights,” said the educational entity.
“Anyway it is fascinating to see that apparent new star in the sky and understand what we are seeing,” added the SAC.
The entity clarified that this type of event is different from a “Supernova”, which is when a massive star literally explodes and destroys.
When using a telescope, the star explosion looks impressiveas demonstrated by the image captured from Aguadilla by Efraín Morales, one of the Astrophotographers of the SAC.
To establish the brilliance of celestial objects, astronomers use the term “magnitude”, but curiously the higher the number, the more dim.
The SAC explained that the binary star that this Nova caused was so opaque with a magnitude of 22.3 (extremely dim), but in recent nights its brilliance has increased to a magnitude of between 6.1 and 5.7, just on the edge of visibility without optical help.
The Nova V462 Lupi was initially detected on June 12 from a telescope in Haleakala, Hawaiiwhich is part of the “Asas-SN” project (All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae).
Although this Nova occurred in a surprising or unexpected way, curiously the event happens at a time when Cosmos enthusiasts expected another similar predicted event, that of the Nova “T Corona Borealis”.
The SAC indicated that, from the perspective of Puerto Rico, the Nova V462 Lupi is at its highest point from the sky to the south between 9:45 pm and 10:00 pmalthough it is appreciated for several hours.