Keep an eye to the sky for a once in a lifetime event!

[Snargfargle]

Find the "Big Dipper" and follow its handle just past Bootes to the next bright star. This should be Alphecca in Corona Borealis. Sometime between now and the end of this summer you should see a "new" bright star there, one as bright as the North Star. This will be the recurrent nova T Coronae Borealis.

What is happening is that a white dwarf and red giant are in a binary system. The white dwarf sucks in matter from the red giant until it has enough to outburst as a nova. It does this about every 75-80 years. Outbursts are preceded by a significant dimming of the system, which occurred recently.

 

[HamptonRoads]

Thanks for the reminder.  Here are some more details:

View Nova Explosion, ‘New’ Star in Northern Crown – Watch the Skies (nasa.gov)