Does nova mean fire

Answer 1

Generally "nova" means new.

nova" class='external' title="nova

The sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous" class='external' title="inconspicuousstar. The name, short for nova Stella (new star), formerly included objects now classified as supernovae and as other kinds of cataclysmic variables. Classical novae now include only those events where the energy source is hydrogen fusion (burning) on the surface of a white dwarf in a close binary system and the white dwarf is not destroyed in the process.

A handful of novae are discovered each year in the Milky Way Galaxy, and the total rate is probably 20-50 per year. A comparable number are found in other, nearby galaxies. The system consists of a normal, hydrogen-burning star in a close orbit (periods of a few days or less) around a white dwarf or degenerate" class='external' title="degeneratestar. A stream of gas flows from the normal star into a disk around the white dwarf and then accretes onto its surface. Hydrogen gradually builds up there until it is hot and dense enough for nuclear burning, normally with carbon, oxygen, neon, or magnesium" class='external' title="magnesiumfrom the white dwarf itself acting as a catalyst" class='external' title="catalyst. Any nuclear fuel ignited under degenerate conditions explodes, because energy released does not cause the gas to expand, so temperature rises rapidly. See also binary star" class='external' title="binarystar; white dwarf star 1" class='external' title="whitedwarf star 1.

Novae brighten in a few days and fade in months to years. The peak brightness is more than 100 times the solar luminosity" class='external' title="luminosity, and the total energy release more than 1045 erg" class='external' title="erg(1038 joule)" class='external' title="joule). Novae recur every 104-105 years. See also cataclysmic variable" class='external' title="cataclysmicvariable; light curve" class='external' title="lightcurve; variable star" class='external' title="variablestar.