2002/01/01 by Brian Warner, Brian D. Warner · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics #Particle Accelerators and Free-Electron Lasers #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1063/1.1518170
published as AIP Conf.Proc. 637 (2003) 3-15 · 13 pages, 1 figure; To appear in the proceedings of `Classical Nova Explosions', Sitges, Spain
openalex publication_date 2002/01/01 · arxiv created 2002/06/26 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The observed properties of novae before and after eruption are discussed. The distribution of orbital periods of novae shows a concentration near 3.2 h, which resembles that of magnetic cataclysmic variables, and there is some evidence that many of the novae themselves are magnetic near that orbital period. Desynchronisation of polars by nova eruptions can lead to an estimate (∼2 × 103 y) for the time between eruptions for the strongly magnetic systems; this is much shorter than that found from other methods. The similarity of pre‐ and post‐nova luminosities, at high rates of mass transfer, is ascribed to irradiation of the secondary producing a self‐sustained high Ṁ state. This slows cooling of the white dwarf after eruption, delays the onset of full scale dwarf nova outbursts in most systems, and delays any descent into a hibernation state of low rate of mass transfer.