Great anticipation around the world for what might appear in the sky at any moment, from now until next autumn. The much-awaited event is the reappearance of T Coronae Borealis, or T CrB, a star that periodically, over decades, increases its brightness by nearly two thousand times, transforming from a speck of light a hundred times fainter than the faintest star visible to the naked eye into a star as bright as Polaris!

Located about 3,000 light-years from Earth, the last time this star shone in the sky was in 1946, and before that in 1866, with reports dating back to much earlier times. Rebekah Hounsell from NASA’s Goddard Center commented, “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event that I believe will inspire many new young astronomers.”

This rare type of variable star could awaken in the coming months after an 80-year slumber, becoming easily visible to the naked eye.

The signs are already there, and it might be just around the corner! With this extraordinary video, we will try to answer all the questions that may arise around such a precious and evocative cosmic event.