BAAO — 2024 Astronomy & Astrophysics Challenge
Question 4
T Coronae Borealis (T CrB), nicknamed the Blaze Star, is a binary star system about 920 pc away in the constellation Corona Borealis. It is famous for being a ‘recurrent nova’ — that is, an object whose brightness suddenly increases and then dims again periodically. The last eruption was in 1946, and there are signs the next one will happen either at the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025. When it does, its apparent magnitude will increase from 10.8 to around 2.5. By approximately what factor will its brightness change?
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Source
Source: British Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad (BAAO), Astronomy & Astrophysics Challenge 2024. Question text, answer-choice text, and answer were transcribed from the official BAAO paper and solutions PDFs; the explanation and metadata are original.