A bright new star has exploded into visibility in the southern skies. It is so bright it can be seen with the unaided eye.
Astronomers say it is a once in a decade event.
Nova Velorum 1999, named after the constellation in which it was found, was detected independently on 22 May by Peter Williams in Australia and Alan Gilmore of Mt John University Observatory in New Zealand. Previously, it was too dim to be seen with the naked eye. But last week, it exploded and became one of the brightest objects in the sky. It is now estimated to have a brightness of magnitude 2, making it more luminous than many famous bright stars. It is what astronomers call a nova - an explosion that occurs in a system of two orbiting stars, a red giant and a white dwarf star.