Backyard Astronomy And Other

The last outburst of T CrB was on February 9th 1946…80 years ago.

The entire world of both professional and amateur astronomy have been anxiously waiting for this event for many years. However, things really started picking up in about 2015, due to light fluctuations of the star. I have been observing the constellation on most all clear nights since March 2025. I’m also using my cellphone for photos which makes excellent documentation, with a before and after.

After the event: The recurrent nova star will likely reach a naked-eye brightness of about mag 2.2 which is based on previous occurrences. The brightness will last for about two weeks, then gradually fading and finally going back to a sleep for another 80 years.

Coordinates: RA: 15h 59m Dec. +25º 55m

The first observed outburst of T Corona Borealis occurred on the night of May 12th 1866, when the star reached the brightness of Alpha CrB…about 2.2 magnitude.

Following photos: I’ll post the most current or recent first and deleting some of the earlier ones and maintaining about five to ten photos for review.

The following photo is from wikisky.org with T marked with an X.

September 9th 2026 @ 11:30 PM….sinking lower in the western sky. Look closely and you can see the constellation in the brightness:

September 9th Magnified cellphone photo:

September 2nd 2026 @ 10:00 PM:

Second photo (wide-field) with the constellation getting lower in the west at about 10:00 PM on September 2nd 2026:

Sunday July 12th 2026 @ 12:28 AM

July 2nd 2026 @ 9:56 PM

June 23rd 2026 @ 11:15 PM with a bright 67% illuminated waxing gibbous moon:

June 22nd 2026 @ 2:45 AM (magnified view)

Friday April 24th 2026 @ 2:30 AM

I’ve deleted most of my cellphone photos from this post, but have included my first (below) from April 26th 2025: