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Monday March 31, 2025
(NEW YORK) -- The once-in-a-lifetime explosion of T Coronae Borealis, also known as the "Blaze Star," is still pending -- but the event will be occurring soon, according to astronomers.
Stargazers watched the skies with bated breath on Thursday night in hopes that T Coronae Borealis, a system consisting of a hot, red giant star and a cool, white dwarf star about 3,000 light-years away, would be visible with the naked eye once the explosion occurred.
In June, NASA predicted that the Blaze Star could explode before September. Another prediction came in October, when astronomers at the Paris Observatory predicted that the explosion would happen on March 27, 2025.
Now that those dates have come and gone, viewers have zeroed in on later predictions, including Nov. 10, June 25, 2026, and Feb. 8, 2027.
It is difficult to predict the exact date of explosion, Louisiana State University physics and astronomy professor Bradley Schaefer, told ABC News last year.
The explosion of T Coronae Borealis, a recurring NOVA, only happens once every 79 to 80 years, according to NASA. It is one of 10 known recurring novas in the Milky Way that erupt on timescales of less than a century.
The last recorded outburst was in 1946. When it explodes, it will be in the top 50 brightest stars in the night sky, astronomers say.
"It's going to be one of the brightest stars in the sky," Schaefer said.
Since March 2023, the Blaze Star has displayed a pre-eruption dip in brightness, typically a sign that an outburst is imminent, according to the American Association of Variable Star Observers.
It is typically far too dim to see with the unaided eye at a magnitude +10, according to NASA, but it will jump to a magnitude +2 during the explosion.
The Blaze Star is located in the Northern Crown, a horseshoe-shaped curve of stars west of the Hercules constellation, according to NASA. Once the explosion occurs, viewers can look for it between the bright stars of Vega and Arcturus.
ABC News' Leah Sarnoff contributed to this report.
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(TEXAS) -- At least three people have died after heavy rain brought record-breaking flooding to South Texas, according to officials.
The deaths occurred in Hidalgo County, where officials issued a disaster declaration as a result of the flooding. The county, which includes the city of McAllen, saw some of the heaviest rain accumulations over the last 24 hours.
There was no further information about the three deaths immediately available, but officials said they would release more details later.
A large part of South Texas is still reeling from the life-threatening flooding that began overnight and continued into Friday morning.
Thunderstorms began Wednesday, with another round of heavy rainfall on Thursday afternoon and evening. The rain continued through Friday afternoon.
The National Weather Service issued flash flooding emergency warnings multiple times on Thursday and overnight for South McAllen and Harlingen -- both located in the Rio Grande Valley in the southernmost parts of Texas.
"This is a particularly dangerous situation," the NWS said in a statement issued Thursday night, urging people to avoid travel unless fleeing a region subject to flooding or are under an evacuation order.
The region received between 6 inches and a foot of rain or more in some areas, according to the NWS. McAllen got more than 6 inches of rain, while more than 14 inches was recorded at the Valley International Airport in Harlingen.
The NWS received reports for several vehicles stranded on Interstate 2 in waist-deep water, according to the agency. Dozens of water rescues took place as a result of the flash flooding.
Video shows first responders in inflatable boats rescuing people stranded on roadways. The South Texas Health System hospital in McAllen experienced minor flooding on its first floor.
Several school districts in the region canceled classes on Friday, as did the South Texas College in McAllen.
Flooding continued into Friday morning, with rivers nearly overflowing. A flood watch is in effect for parts of South Texas and southern Louisiana.
Water levels at the Arroyo Colorado River at Harlingen are nearing a record-breaking 30 feet. There is no precedent for the kind of damage a 30-foot water level in the Arroyo Colorado River could do, according to the NWS. The previous record water levels measured at the Arroyo Colorado River was 24 feet.
The flooding stemmed from a stationary boundary -- a front between warm and cold air masses that moves very slowly or not at all. A band of significantly heavy storms was forming over the same hard-hit areas on Friday morning. A storm with 3-inch rain rates was forming over Harlingen on Friday morning.
The system also conjured up a tornado, with a twister reported near Edcouch, Texas, about 25 miles northeast of McAllen, that damaged several structures.
The potential for showers and thunderstorms in this region is expected to continue through the afternoon, with the threat ending Friday evening, forecasts show.
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