U Scorpii

U Scorpii (U Sco) is a recurrent nova system; one of 10 known recurring novae in the Milky Way galaxy. Located near the northern edge of the constellation Scorpius it normally has a magnitude of 18, but reaches a magnitude of about 8 during outbursts. Outbursts have been observed in 1863, 1906, 1936, 1979, 1987, 1999, and 2010.

The most recent outburst, on 28 Jan 2010, was predicted to occur April 2009 ± 1.0 year, based on observations during quiescence following the 1999 outburst. The U Sco 2010 eruption faded by 1 magnitude in 1 day, and by 4 magnitudes in 6 days. By February 6 it was dimmer than magnitude 13. Between February 10–19, it was flickering around magnitude 14. The eruption ended on day 64, which is the fastest observed decline to quiescence of recurring nova. This eruption of U Sco is now the best observed nova event with 22,000 magnitudes already accumulated. Astronomers have predicted that another eruption of U Sco will occur in 2020±2.