Astronomy
A Nova is not a new star that appears all of a sudden in the sky, as its name suggests. It's actually a sudden brightness that appears on the surface of an existing white dwarf star in a binary system with another star.
The White dwarf star's gravity starts pulling off the material that lies on its binary neighbor, when it is close enough. This material that got accumulated on the surface of the white dwarf mostly contains hydrogen atoms. and occasionally, they got hot enough to start a nuclear fusion and the process begins suddenly. The hydrogen atoms on the surface of the white dwarf gets fused in to the helium atoms and in turn makes the star shine brightly.
This process continues until the other star gets completely devoured of matter, and it ranges from a few days to almost thousands of years.
Nova should not be confused with Supernova, which completely is a different process. Earlier it was thought that Supernova is a kind of very bright Nova and hence the name. Nova happens very often in the space, not like a Supernova, which appears very rare.
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- What Is A White Dwarf?
A white dwarf is a dwarf star and the 'white' that was added to its name was just because, the few dwarfs that were found during their discovery appeared white--I'm not kidding, that's true. Do you know how dense a typical white dwarf...
- What Is A Supernova?
There was a star somewhere around the sky staying almost unnoticeable, and got burst out suddenly in to a blistering brightness; it's just a one more Supernova!--if not Nova. The energy and light that was radiated in to the sky during the star's...
- What Makes A Star Shine ?
A star is formed when a large amount of gas (mostly hydrogen) starts to collapse in on itself due to its high gravitational attraction. As it contracts the atoms of the gas collide with each other more and more frequently and at greater and greater speeds--the...
Astronomy
What is a Nova?
A Nova is not a new star that appears all of a sudden in the sky, as its name suggests. It's actually a sudden brightness that appears on the surface of an existing white dwarf star in a binary system with another star.
The White dwarf star's gravity starts pulling off the material that lies on its binary neighbor, when it is close enough. This material that got accumulated on the surface of the white dwarf mostly contains hydrogen atoms. and occasionally, they got hot enough to start a nuclear fusion and the process begins suddenly. The hydrogen atoms on the surface of the white dwarf gets fused in to the helium atoms and in turn makes the star shine brightly.
This process continues until the other star gets completely devoured of matter, and it ranges from a few days to almost thousands of years.
Nova should not be confused with Supernova, which completely is a different process. Earlier it was thought that Supernova is a kind of very bright Nova and hence the name. Nova happens very often in the space, not like a Supernova, which appears very rare.
- Kepler 2 Shows How The Planets In Our Solar System Might End.
Astronomers using NASA?s re-purposed Kepler space telescope, known as K2 mission, have found strong evidence of a planet that is being torn apart as it spirals around a dead star or white dwarf in the constellation of Virgo, 571 light years from Earth....
- Supernova Smashed Into A Nearby Star
A team of astronomers has witnessed a supernova smashing into a nearby star, shocking it and creating an ultraviolet glow that reveals the size of the companion. In a type "Ia" supernova, a white dwarf star explodes after it gains matter from a companion...
- What Is A White Dwarf?
A white dwarf is a dwarf star and the 'white' that was added to its name was just because, the few dwarfs that were found during their discovery appeared white--I'm not kidding, that's true. Do you know how dense a typical white dwarf...
- What Is A Supernova?
There was a star somewhere around the sky staying almost unnoticeable, and got burst out suddenly in to a blistering brightness; it's just a one more Supernova!--if not Nova. The energy and light that was radiated in to the sky during the star's...
- What Makes A Star Shine ?
A star is formed when a large amount of gas (mostly hydrogen) starts to collapse in on itself due to its high gravitational attraction. As it contracts the atoms of the gas collide with each other more and more frequently and at greater and greater speeds--the...