Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

nova light curve



I have a student doing an IB extended essay in astrophysics. He's collected
data for plotting the light curve of a nova, working with an amateur
astronomy group, making estimates of magnitudes from photographic plates.
He's read that absolute magnitude estimates are made from two facts: (i)
all novae tend to settle down to the same absolute magnitude after about 15
days, and (ii) the absolute magnitude is related to the time taken to lose
3 magnitudes initially. He wants to know what the astrophysics behind these
facts is, but can't find any references - the subject seems to be too
specialised for the libraries he's had access to. Can anyone help?

Mark.


Mark Sylvester
United World College of the Adriatic
34013 Duino TS
Italy.
msylvest@spin.it
tel: +39 040 3739 255