'Dead star' erupts for big show (BBC) {something for amateur astronomers}

[eppur_se_muova]

By Jonathan Amos
BBC News science reporter, in Leicester

The white dwarf star in the Ophiuchus constellation has exhausted its own nuclear fuel but is now stealing it from a neighbouring giant.

Every 20 years or so, it gathers sufficient material to explode with enough intensity to be seen from Earth with the naked eye.

The so-called recurrent nova event has now flared up six times in 108 years.
***
Amateur stargazers in Japan were the first to report the nova on 12 February, and the professional scientific community has responded by calling up some of the world's leading facilities to take a look.
***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4885700.stm

Apparently, RS Ophiuchi, or RS Oph, should still be visible in small telescopes.

[Preening Fop]

1. Hidden somewhere in rural Ontario, the stars are magnifcant....!

Thank You Eppur_Se_Mouva.

Because of their well written reports on a wide range of topics,
BBC World News and their talented Radio Stations
are highly valued on my 'Favourites List'.....!

[MyshkinCommaPrince]

2. A long, long time ago

Which seems like "now" to us because we're just now receiving the light from the event. It always seems to me like the past tense should be used when writers describe such astronomical events. When we look out at the stars, we're seeing into the past. Personally, I think that's really cool.

[Bill McBlueState]

3. as an astronomer, I always neglect to mention this

When I study stars, I don't really think about the light travel time. There's absolutely no way to get information any faster than the limit placed by the speed of light, and it doesn't make a difference to me whether a star formed 400 years ago or right now; a few hundred years is meaningless on the hundred-thousand-year time scales important to star formation.

Still, that aspect of astronomy is important to non-specialists, and deserves more attention than it gets.