Nova is an astronomical term for a star that suddenly increases in brightness, then fades. Nova Continued Yvaine Origin: Female variation of Yvain or Scottish Meaning: "evening star" Description: A mix of Yv
Nova has the feel of both newness, from its meaning, and great energy as an astronomical term for a star that increases suddenly in brightness before fading. Nova Continued Posy Origin: English Meaning: "a bunch of flowers" Description: A sweet, nostalgic nosegay kind of name, Posy has...
Cataclysmic variable stars (CVs) are stars that irregularly increase in brightness by a large factor, then drop back down to a quiescent phase (Warner, 1995). They consist of two component stars: a WD primary and a mass donor star. CVs are usually divided into several types, such as class...
An optical-IR image showing a galaxy that suddenly brightened when the supermassive black hole at its center shredded and absorbed a star that wandered too close. Credit: NASA; Gezari, Rest, and Chornock A team ofCfAastronomers is reporting that the object they observed using the Pan-STARRS t...
While classed as eruptive variables, these stars do not undergo periodic increases in brightness; instead, they spend most of their time at maximum brightness. At irregular intervals, however, they suddenly fade by 1 - 9 magnitudes, slowly recovering to their maximum brightness over months to year...
Supernovae are suddenly-appearing dying stars in the sky, whose luminosity in visible light outshine an entire galaxy for days to weeks. Baade and Zwicky correctly proposed at that time that the release of the gravitational binding energy of the neutron stars powers the supernova: "In the ...
The first stage in the life cycle of a star is the Nebula. A Nebula is a swirling sea of dust and gas but, it is not a star yet. Over time, the dust and gas will collect into a ball that sweeps through the Nebula. The ball of gas and dust then begins to grow. ...
A few thoughts on limiting observations. With regard to pairs that are pretty equal in brightness, I can report that a binary such as Gamma Centaurus, that has currently closed beyond reach (~0.15"), was a fairly easy pair in the late 1990s at 1.1", but by 2009 at 0.4" was beyond ...
This core will suddenly collapse as its electrons are driven into its protons, forming neutrons, neutrinos, and gamma rays in a burst of electron capture and inverse beta decay. The shockwave formed by this sudden collapse causes the rest of the star to explode in a supernova. Supernovae ...
"More and more gas falls into it, so that the temperature increases, and then sooner or later it reaches a million degrees in the center, starting nuclear fusion. Fusion puts another force onto it and actually pushes out, which now relaxes pressure and stops the in-falling gas." With ...