Artist’s Illustration of Extragalactic Recurrent Nova (IMAGE)

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Artist’s Illustration of Extragalactic Recurrent Nova

Caption

This artist's illustration depicts an extragalactic nova eruption. Nova explosions occur in binary star systems in which a white dwarf — the dense remnant of a dead star — continually siphons stellar material from a nearby companion star. As the outer atmosphere of the companion gathers onto the surface of the white dwarf it reaches temperatures hot enough to spark an eruption. Almost all novae discovered to-date have been observed to erupt only once. But a few have been observed to erupt more than once, and are classified as recurrent novae. The span between eruptions for these novae can vary from as little as one year to many decades.

Credit

International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Garlick, M. Zamani

Usage Restrictions

Credit must be given to the creator.

License

CC BY

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