The expected light show in the sky — is the result of an «explosive interaction» between two neighboring stars that occurs every 80 years.
This star is located in the constellation of the Corona Borealis (and has the corresponding official name — T Coronae Borealis, as well as the unofficial — «Blaze Star») and belongs to the class of re-novae (one of the five known in our galaxy). As a rule, its brightness is about +10 (at the limit of reflection in binoculars), but about once every 80 years its stellar magnitude reaches +2 (at the level of Polaris), which makes it possible to observe the object with the naked eye.
The last time such an outbreak was recorded was in 1946, and before that: in 1866. This time, as NASA notes, «Blaze Star» is 2 years ahead of schedule and will become visible between March and September 2024.
So what causes these periodic outbursts? T North Crown — is not just a star, but a double system consisting of a white dwarf and a red giant locked in close orbit. The red giant ejects gas at a constant rate, and the white dwarf «sucks» it up, eventually collecting and compressing enough hydrogen to cause a new one to fuse. The white dwarf gets hotter, bigger, and brighter (and that’s what we see on Earth as the Flaming Star) before fading again and starting a new 80-year cycle.