Publisher's Synopsis
Extragalactic Novae: A historical perspective takes the
reader on a journey chronicling the study of a class of eruptive variable stars
known as "Novae Stella", Latin for "New Stars". These
mysterious transient objects, now referred to simply as novae, have been
recognized since antiquity, suddenly appearing in the night sky before slowly
fading back into obscurity. The book begins with a brief introduction to the
early observations, including an overview of the role that novae played in the
birth of extragalactic astronomy, and concludes with a discussion of how nova
observations over the past century have contributed to our knowledge of close
binary star populations in nearby galaxies. Along the way, the history of our
understanding of the nova phenomena, in the Milky Way and beyond, is unveiled.
In particular, the author describes how the enigmatic nova eruptions were
finally realized to be the result of thermonuclear runaways on the surfaces of
accreting white dwarf stars, how a controversial correlation between a nova's
peak luminosity and its rate of decline (the MMRD relation) has been used in
extragalactic distance determinations, and how recent observations have
bolstered the case that novae may form a significant channel for the production
of type Ia supernovae. These topics, and more, are recounted by an observer who
has spent the past 35 years studying these fascinating objects.
