Questions tagged [nova]
For questions about stellar explosions on white dwarfs caused by runaway fusion reactions in an accreted hydrogen atmoshphere and visible as a "new star". Distinct from a supernova.
18 questions
12
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How will space telescopes catch T Coronae Borealis going nova?
We expect T Coronae Borealis to go nova in the next months. When it does, will space telescopes already be watching it, or will they turn to observe it, or will big ones like Hubble and JWST miss it ...
- 553
5
votes
1
answer
137
views
Required temperature for a nova
On the wikipedia page of the nova is said that the CNO cyle, which converts hydrogen into helium, starts on the surface of the white dwarf when the temperature reaches about 20 million K.
My question ...
- 716
4
votes
1
answer
539
views
Can a Nova occur outside of a binary star system?
With the T Coronae Borealis nova likely to erupt soon, it got me thinking if novas could occur outside of a binary star system.
On the wiki page titled Nova:
All observed novae involve white dwarfs ...
- 385
2
votes
1
answer
104
views
Tracking variable stars?
Is there a website or application I can use do track the brightness of variable stars and notify of any unusual or particularly spectacular changes.
I am particularly interested in tracking the blaze ...
- 225
3
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Automated (and hopefully free) systems I can subscribe to sending email or SMS text message when the T Coronae Borealis Nova becomes visible?
My earlier question about predicted potentially observable events Has a gravitational microlensing event ever been predicted? If so, has it been observed? is limited to microlensing.
Now I have just ...
- 30.7k
6
votes
1
answer
239
views
Why does a white dwarf sometimes go 'nova' and sometimes supernova (type 1a)?
Obviously, when a white dwarf goes truly supernova, there is nothing left, not even, I have heard, a neutron star or black hole...
But when certain white dwarf stars accrete certain amounts or types ...
- 5,585
3
votes
1
answer
94
views
Has the rate of time passage been measured?
We know certain astronomical events in our neighborhood occur within a specific time interval,for example a solar flare, a nova, etc. Does the time interval of these 'standard metronomes' change if ...
- 531
2
votes
2
answers
59
views
How can photoionization release photons? As in the coronal emission of a nova star?
The photoionization process absorbs energy (light), it doesn't release it....
So how can some astrophysicists say that photoionization releases the light responsible for the coronal emission of a star ...
- 5,585
4
votes
1
answer
74
views
How much time do I have left to easily spot the recently brightened Recurrent Nova RS Ophiuchi with binoculars and mild light pollution?
Excellent answers to Binocular-friendly star map to find the Recurrent Nova RS Ophiuchi? provide some helpful maps for circa 8° FOV binoculars, but due to spatial and potential meteorological ...
- 30.7k
2
votes
3
answers
100
views
Binocular-friendly star map to find the Recurrent Nova RS Ophiuchi?
I'd like to find or generate a map that will be useful for someone with an 8° FOV pair of binoculars to locate the Recurrent Nova RS Ophiuchi.
As linked in The Observatory Science alert's Epic Nova ...
- 30.7k
5
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Difference between Supernova Type Ia and Nova
What is the difference between Supernova Type Ia and Nova? Base on a web search, they seem to have a similar formation process, as they are both white dwarfs in a binary system who absorb masses from ...
- 1,306
0
votes
0
answers
141
views
Distance and absolute brightness
This is an exercise from a text, I’m learning from and I can’t understand it so I’m asking just to develop my knowledge:
The explosion of V603 Aql (Nova Aquilae) took place in June 1918. The nova ...
6
votes
1
answer
274
views
Assuming no light pollution, was "2C. 1406" ever visible to the naked eye?
Joseph Needham, in his Science and Civilisation in China Vol. III, claimed that there was an ancient record of a nova about three thousand years ago. As a result of private correspondences with a "Dr ...
- 163
1
vote
0
answers
83
views
Does Nickel show up in spectra of Nova?
Does a nova, not a supernova, get hot enough that nickel is produced despite its formation by fusion being an endothermic reaction? If nickel is made, does it make it out of the star into the nebula?
...
- 4,548
1
vote
0
answers
43
views
How to decide which part of the data is analyzed? [closed]
I need to get the X-ray light curve of Classical Nova V1494 Aquilae (1999 No. 2) in Outburst. It is done long time ago, but I need to this by myself. While reading the papaer about the V1494 Aquilae, ...
- 11
30
votes
2
answers
3k
views
We know what a nova is, but how?
I work with astrophysicists and require some basic knowledge of many astronomical sources, however research priorities often demand that most of human knowledge on a subject be taken for granted.
I ...
- 499
1
vote
1
answer
152
views
Identifying cataclysmic stellar phenomena
Cataclysms such as novas, kilonovas, supernova, magnetars, quasars, gamma ray bursts are rarely visible from Earth. Under what conditions (such as distance, day vs. night, naked eye vs. level of ...
- 329
0
votes
1
answer
223
views
Do novas create a nebula? Could a planet survive if its star exploded in a nova?
Does a nova, caused by runaway fusion in hydrogen accreted onto a white dwarf from a companion star, create a visible nebula?
If a planet were in a circumbinary orbit around a binary pair that ...
