"Once-in-a-lifetime" cosmic explosion is likely this summer, NASA says. Here's what to know.

A rare eruption of light from a dead star will likely be visible to people on Earth this summer in a fleeting but potentially stark celestial display that scientists are calling "a once-in-a-lifetime event."

The technical term for the impending cosmic explosion is nova, which happens when a white dwarf lights up suddenly and often strikingly in the night sky. "White dwarf" is how astronomers describe a star at the end of its life cycle, after it has exhausted all of its nuclear fuel and only its core remains. 

As opposed to a supernova — another solar phenomenon visible from Earth, when a star effectively explodes — a nova instead refers to a dramatic ejection of material that a white dwarf has accumulated over time from a younger star in its close proximity. 

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