When I was a kid (1980's) I remember hearing about a star that died/disappeared from a major constellation

Question

Anyone know which one it could have been?

Answer 1

You may be thinking of the Nova (new star) that appeared in the constellation of Cygnus, hung around for a few weeks, then faded out of existence again. This happened in 1975.

Answer 2

supernova 1987A in the Large Megellanic Cloud.  

I dont recall hearing about it myself though :(

but I do recall searching pointlessly for Halley's comet.

Answer 3

i believe you are talking about SN 1987 A,it was a supernova in the satellite galaxy of the milky way,known as the large Magellanic cloud.it was identified as a 12Th magnitude star,and was a blue super giant,when it went supernova it was bright enough to see with the naked eye,magnitude 2.8,and all this happened in 1987,hence the name,and it happened in the southern constellation of dorado,aka,the gold fish...