Novas

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Nova \No"va\ (n[=o]"v[.a]), n.; pl. L. {Novae} (n[=o]"v[=e]), E.
     {Novas} (n[=o]"v[.a]z). [L., fem. sing. of novus new.]
     (Astron.)
     A star which suddenly increases in brightness thousands of
     times, then fades back to near its original intensity. It may
     appear as a "new" star if its original brightness was too low


     for routine observation. A star which suddenly increases in
     brightness to many millions of times its original intensity
     is a {supernova}, and the postulated mechanisms for the
     increases of brightness of novae and supernovae are
     different.
  
     Note: The most important modern novae are:
  
     {No"va Co*ro"nae Bo`re*a"lis}[1866];
  
     {No"va Cyg"ni}[1876];
  
     {No"va An*dro"me*dae}[1885];
  
     {No"va Au*ri"gae}[1891-92];
  
     {No"va Per"se*i}[1901]. There are two novae called {Nova
        Persei}. They are:
     (a) A small nova which appeared in 1881.
     (b) An extraordinary nova which appeared in Perseus in 1901.
         It was first sighted on February 22, and for one night
         (February 23) was the brightest star in the sky. By July
         it had almost disappeared, after which faint surrounding
         nebulous masses were discovered, apparently moving
         radially outward from the star at incredible velocity.
         [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]