Star snapped before and after nova explosion

[nitpicker]

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37098317

Star snapped before and after nova explosion

By Jonathan Webb
Science reporter, BBC News

17 August 2016

Astronomers have captured rare images of a tiny star before, during and after it exploded as a "classical nova". In this type of binary system, a white dwarf sucks gas from a much bigger partner star until it blows up - about every 10,000 to one million years. Now, a Polish team has caught one in the act using a telescope in Chile.

The observations, reported in Nature, were made as part of a long-running sky survey that was originally aimed at detecting dark matter. The consistent stream of images snapped for that project, the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment, allowed the researchers to go back and see what the star system looked like before the explosion brought it to their attention in May 2009.

Even though it is 20,000 light-years away - a terribly faint pinprick of light barely visible among brighter stars, even in magnified images - this was a rare opportunity to study the build-up and aftermath of a classical nova.
(snip)

In fact, Mr Mróz and his colleagues argue that their results support a "hibernation" model for classical novae. This means that during the lengthy wait between explosions, the system goes almost completely dark and the white dwarf stops stealing gas altogether. That model predicts a slow, sputtering transfer of matter between the stars before the explosion, and a relatively fast and bright transfer afterwards - which is precisely what the Polish researchers believe they have captured.
(snip)

[Javaman]

1. Obi-Wan: I felt a great disturbance in the Force...

...as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.