- T Coronae Borealis (T CrB), nicknamed the Blaze Star, is a binary star and a recurrent nova about 3,000 light-years (920 pc) away in the constellation Corona Borealis. It was first discovered in outburst in 1866 by John Birmingham, though it had been observed earlier as a 10th magnitude star. It may have been observed in 1217 and in 1787 as well. In February 1946 a 15-year-old schoolboy from Wales named Michael Woodman observed a flare up, subsequently writing to the Astronomer Royal and leading to the theory that the star flares each 80 years.