nova

Also known as Bovae, Classical nova

frame|right|Artist's conception of a white dwarf, right, Accretion (astrophysics)|accreting hydrogen from the [[Roche lobe of its larger companion star]]

AI overview

A nova is a sudden, dramatic brightening of a star system caused by a thermonuclear explosion on the surface of a white dwarf that is pulling material from a nearby companion star. Novas matter to astronomers because they help us understand stellar evolution, binary star systems, and the physics of extreme conditions in space.

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Wikidata facts

Image: Making a Nova.jpg

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Commons gallery: Nova
Commons category: Novae
catalog code: N

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~14 min read

Article

13 sections

Contents

Etymology
Stellar evolution of novae
Helium novae
Occurrence rate and astrophysical significance
Subtypes
Remnants
Novae as distance indicators
Recurrent novae
Extragalactic novae
See also
References
Further reading
External links

frame|right|Artist's conception of a white dwarf, right, Accretion (astrophysics)|accreting hydrogen from the [[Roche lobe of its larger companion star]]

A nova is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new"; the shortened form of "stella nova", Latin for "new star") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white dwarfs in close binary systems, but causes of the dramatic appearance of a nova vary, depending on the circumstances of the two progenitor stars. The main sub-classes of novae are classical novae, recurrent novae (RNe), and dwarf novae. They are all considered to be cataclysmic variable stars.