The new star V462 Lupi became a real sensation in June 2025. Behind the noise around it, its relative V572 Velorum, which was generally brighter, went unnoticed. But to what extent are these remarkable phenomena? To answer this question, let’s take a look at the 10 brightest new stars of the last decade.
Two new stars
On June 12, 2025, the ASAS-SN automatic sky survey detected a new star, the brightness of which gradually increased and reached magnitude 5.8 on June 18, formally making it visible to the naked eye. The star was designated V462 Lupi after the constellation in which it is located, and it soon became the subject of discussion among numerous astronomy enthusiasts around the world.
On June 20, V462 Lupi reached a maximum magnitude of 5.5, after which it began to fade. And on June 25, another new star was discovered, designated V572 Velorum. In general, it turned out to be much brighter than its predecessor, and on June 27, its magnitude reached 4.8. Despite this, it was somewhat lost in the news flow.
Both stars were barely visible to the naked eye even at their peak brightness. Moreover, both V462 Lupi and V572 Velorum are located in the Southern Hemisphere. The latter is generally visible only in southern Italy and Spain, while the former is very low above the horizon even at the latitude of Odesa.
However, the appearance of the two new luminaries might well have frightened people in ancient times if they did not know that giant balls of hot gas do not appear out of nowhere, but undergo powerful explosions.
Novae and supernovae
Historically, all outbursts of previously invisible or even invisible stars that people perceived as the appearance of new luminaries were called novae. It was only in the 19th century that astronomers recognized these as two distinct phenomena. The much more powerful and rare one was called a supernova, while the others retained their traditional names.
The difference between novae and supernovae lies in the mechanism of their occurrence. The latter are formed as a result of the collapse of a massive luminary or the transformation of a white dwarf that is part of a double system. Usually, the white dwarf is destroyed in this process (classical type Ia supernova). The former are simply thermonuclear explosions, during which the white dwarf remains intact.
All the new ones are close binary systems composed of an ordinary star and a red dwarf. The latter is smaller in size but has a comparable or even greater mass than its companion. Therefore, material from the other star flows to it.
The gas forms an additional shell around the white dwarf, which becomes more and more massive over time. At some point, a thermonuclear reaction starts in it in the form of an explosion, which we observe as a nova.
After that, the process can be repeated for several decades, and then the new one is referred to as a recurrent. However, recently, astronomers have been growing suspicious that all new ones are recurrent, but the interval between outbreaks in most of them is several centuries or millennia, so their cyclicality has not yet been identified.
No supernovae have been observed in the Milky Way for several centuries. Nowadays, a few are detected every year, but most are too faint to be seen with the naked eye. That is why the V462 Lupi outburst attracted so much attention, although it is hard to call it particularly bright.
The brightest new star for observers on Earth over the past three centuries is V603 Aquilae. It was asleep on June 8, 1918, and quickly reached a brightness of -0.5. That is, at the peak of luminosity, only Sirius and Canopus were brighter than it.
However, such bright novae have not been observed for quite some time. For example, the last time V1500 Cygni had a brightness greater than that of Polaris was observed back in 1975. The next truly remarkable nova may be the T Coronae Borealis. This is a recurrent nova, which is expected to outburst in the coming years.
The top of the brightest new ones over the past 10 years is as follows:
1. YZ Reticuli
On August 6, 2019, amateur astronomer Gabriel Murawski discovered a star that was later named YZ Reticuli. It showed fluctuations in luminosity, and thanks to archival data, scientists found that in 2006 it had experienced a significant dimming.
However, on June 15, 2020, the YZ Reticuli discovered an object that already had a brightness of 5.5. Later, it reached 3.3, and it became clear that it was a nova. It is located at a distance of 8800 light years from us. The components orbit each other with a period of only 3 hours and 10 minutes.
2. V5668 Sagittarii
The new V5668 Sagittarii flared up on March 15, 2015. On March 21, its brightness peaked at about 4.0 magnitude. For some time, the luminosity remained near the maximum, after which it dropped sharply by 7 magnitudes. This drop is associated with the formation of a dust cloud that surrounds the system.
However, after this eclipse, the luminosity quickly increased by about 5 stellar magnitudes, and then decreased in the same way as in other classical novae. The system is located at a distance of 5000 light-years from us.
This outburst is interesting because it showed pulsating X-ray radiation, the period of oscillations of which coincided with the rotation of the white dwarf.
3. RS Ophiuchus
The third brightest new star of the last decade is RS Ophiuchus. The outburst was recorded on August 8, 2021, and a day later, its brilliance reached a peak of 4.6 magnitudes. This object is interesting because it is one of the brightest representatives of recurrent novae.
Since the end of the 19th century, the RS Serpentine has already flared up 9 times. It occurred in 1898, 1907, 1933, 1945, 1958, 1967, 1985, 2006, and 2021. The outbreaks are quite irregular, but perhaps scientists have simply not seen all of them.
Like many other novae, RS Ophiuchus is surrounded by a gas envelope, which is the remnants of the matter that was ejected by the white dwarf during the outburst. Due to the high frequency of such events, this star has a particularly large nebula that stretches for 230 light-years.
4. V572 Velorum
In fourth place is V572 Velorum, which is being observed right now. With a brilliance of 4.8, it is among the ten brightest new ones not only for the decade but also for the last 25 years.
However, according to the latest data, this is not a classic, but rather a dwarf new one. Their mechanism is different. It is believed that the outburst is associated with the destabilization of the accretion disk, i.e., it occurs in the disk, not on the surface of the white dwarf.
In addition to the above data, scientists have already found out that in this case, the red and white dwarfs orbit each other with a period of only 2.956 hours.
5. V1405 Cassiopeiae
On May 9, 2021, V1405 Cassiopeiae reached its peak brightness. It was 5.0. As for this system, it is known that the distance to it is about 5600 light years. The pair of white and red dwarfs makes one revolution in 4.52 hours.
6. V5856 Sagittarii
The next brightest is V5856 Sagittarii, which flared on October 25, 2016. Its brilliance reached a maximum magnitude of 5.5. The distance to the system is 13,700 light-years.
7. V407 Lupi
In seventh place is a nova that erupted earlier in the constellation of Lupi. It happened on September 24, 2016. At that time, its luminosity reached magnitude 5.6, making it visible to the naked eye. This supernova is characterized by an extremely rapid decline in brightness after the peak.
In addition, in this case, the rotation period of the double system is significant by the standards of the new ones, lasting about 3.5 days, and the white dwarf is quite large. Its mass is 25% higher than that of the Sun.
8. V462 Lupi
The new star, which was the most talked about in June 2025, actually ranks eighth in the ranking of the brightest over the past ten years. In addition to what has already been said, the only thing that can be added about it is that the two components that make up the system orbit each other in just 1.8 hours. However, this figure is questioned by experts.
9. FM Circini
A nova of the FM Circini flared up in early 2018. It was characterized by an extremely slow increase in brightness. It was first spotted on January 19 this year, and its peak magnitude of 5.8 was observed on March 22. Another interesting feature of the system is that its two components make one revolution in 3.49 days.
10. V906 Carinae
The rating is completed by the new V906 Carinae, which flared up on March 20, 2018, and reached its maximum stellar magnitude on March 5, 9, and 26 of the same year. The distance to this system is about 10 thousand light-years, and the masses of the white dwarf and its companion are 0.71 and 0.23-0.43 solar masses, respectively.
