Apr 13, 2006
Nova, not supernova
Nova- a burst of light emitted from a two-star system that includes a white dwarf and a red giant star. When the red star has expanded and the two stars are in a tight orbit around one another, the white dwarf will begin to steal (or accrete) both Hydrogen and Helium from the red star's surface. This gas gets packed down onto the dwarf, heats up, and eventually explodes into nuclear fusion.
The result is a flare of extremely bright light (sometimes 10,000 x solar brightness) that lasts for a short period of time (days or weeks). Neither star is destroyed in this flare (as opposed to a supernova) and some white dwarfs have been known to nova multiple times.
Tycho first observed a nova in the 1500's and wrote something called En Stella Nova ("in regards to the new star," it's latin), and for a long time, there was no distinction between Novas and Supernovas.
The result is a flare of extremely bright light (sometimes 10,000 x solar brightness) that lasts for a short period of time (days or weeks). Neither star is destroyed in this flare (as opposed to a supernova) and some white dwarfs have been known to nova multiple times.
Tycho first observed a nova in the 1500's and wrote something called En Stella Nova ("in regards to the new star," it's latin), and for a long time, there was no distinction between Novas and Supernovas.
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