Stellar Evolution in Real Time: Models Consistent with Direct Observation of Thermal Pulse in T Ursae Minoris

Most aspects of stellar evolution proceed far too slowly to be directly observable in a single star on human timescales. The thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch is one exception. The combination of state-of-the-art modelling techniques with data assimilated from observations collected by amateur astronomers over many decades provide, for the first time, the opportunity to identify a star occupying precisely this evolutionary stage.