It's a Nova!

A new nova has been discovered last week in the Southern Hemisphere, in the Carina constellation.


apod.nasa.gov...

While novas aren't as spectacular as supernovas (or is it "supernovae"?) they're still really cool. They're basically thermonuclear explosions on the surface of white dwarf stars that are accreting material from their binary companion. This one got bright enough to be visible in binoculars!

Both professional and amateur astronomers will be monitoring this unusual stellar outburst in the coming weeks, looking to see how Nova Carinae 2018 evolves, including whether it becomes bright enough to be visible to the unaided eye.

This is one of many times when I wished I lived in the Southern Hemisphere.

Imagine looking up to the starry sky you're quite familiar with, and spotting a star that wasn't there before.


www.youtube.com...

I like a new nova and a really cool thermonuclear explosions

Is'nt there a viedo of that part of the sky , so that anyone can "now you don't see it, now you do" ?

a reply to: wildespace

My first impression after opening this thread was one of AWE.. Photos with thousands of stars and galaxies always do that.

Next, I wonder how many life forms were wiped out of existence in just a few hours time. (Maybe minutes?) "People" discussing, arguing, loving, feeling important...and then POOF! It was all for nothing.

a reply to: wildespace

Beautiful! The Undiscovered Universe for all to see, a stunning site to behold.

a reply to: carewemust

I'm always looking up at night, wishing so bad to be out there. What trips me out is that all or most of those stars might not even be there by the time we see their light. That Nova actually happened a hundred years ago, or whatever, depending on how far it is. But it certainly didn't happen recently. Makes me wonder, are there any stars left besides our own? I'll let you know in 8 minutes. Actually, I wont.

originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: wildespace

My first impression after opening this thread was one of AWE.. Photos with thousands of stars and galaxies always do that.

Next, I wonder how many life forms were wiped out of existence in just a few hours time. (Maybe minutes?) "People" discussing, arguing, loving, feeling important...and then POOF! It was all for nothing.

There's very puny chance that a binary system with a white dwarf in it would have habitable planets (or any planets at all).

However, any aliens in nearby star systems would get quite a light show, and an unhealthy dose of radiation.

Live updates for the observations of this nova: www.aavso.org...

These place its apparent magnitude just within the naked eye visibility limit. Under sufficiently dark skies and perhaps with averted vision, this nova could be a naked-eye object!

originally posted by: Starhooker
I'm always looking up at night, wishing so bad to be out there.

You are, for any creature in another planet, looking at the sky.

originally posted by: ArMaP

originally posted by: Starhooker
I'm always looking up at night, wishing so bad to be out there.

You are, for any creature in another planet, looking at the sky.

We're aliens!

I may have seen this.
I was walking, early in the morning, still dark.
I saw what appeared to be a bright star grow in size and intensity over a period of several minutes.
I was wondering if it was maybe a plane or helicopter.
It was much bigger than other stars or visible planets.
It shrunk back to barely visible with a few minutes.
Never seen anything like it. My first guess was a nova.

I thought it wss going to be a 1970s Chevy

originally posted by: skunkape23
I may have seen this.
I was walking, early in the morning, still dark.
I saw what appeared to be a bright star grow in size and intensity over a period of several minutes.
I was wondering if it was maybe a plane or helicopter.
It was much bigger than other stars or visible planets.
It shrunk back to barely visible with a few minutes.
Never seen anything like it. My first guess was a nova.

No, novae can take hours to reach full brightness and can stay visible for weeks. To be honest, they look pretty much like stars. If you didn't know what it was, you wouldn't look twice at it.

What you describe sounds like a classic Iridium flare. They are more common (though you do have to be looking at the right place at the right time), but they are visually much cooler to see. Lucky you!

a reply to: wildespace

Nice find

originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: wildespace

Next, I wonder how many life forms were wiped out of existence in just a few hours time. (Maybe minutes?) "People" discussing, arguing, loving, feeling important...and then POOF! It was all for nothing.

Unless they who did LOVE were ascended beyond the physical into new light forms (becoming aliens to those who have not). Why others less loving ascended into more dense body forms to try again...

originally posted by: Saint Exupery

originally posted by: skunkape23
I may have seen this.
I was walking, early in the morning, still dark.
I saw what appeared to be a bright star grow in size and intensity over a period of several minutes.
I was wondering if it was maybe a plane or helicopter.
It was much bigger than other stars or visible planets.
It shrunk back to barely visible with a few minutes.
Never seen anything like it. My first guess was a nova.

No, novae can take hours to reach full brightness and can stay visible for weeks. To be honest, they look pretty much like stars. If you didn't know what it was, you wouldn't look twice at it.

What you describe sounds like a classic Iridium flare. They are more common (though you do have to be looking at the right place at the right time), but they are visually much cooler to see. Lucky you!

There was no noticable movement, side to side or up and down, so it would have been orbiting directly in my field of view. Plausible theory.

a reply to: ArMaP
Well said. The grass is always greener I guess. Never thought if it that way before. Gracias. Probably not the right place for this, but about a year ago, I watched a star, or whatever, slowly die out. It was bright like a star but slowly faded away in about 3 min after it caught my eye. I have no explanation for it.