NOVA (novae)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: novae   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does nova mean? 

• NOVA (noun)
  The noun NOVA has 1 sense:

1. a star that ejects some of its material in the form of a cloud and becomes more luminous in the process

  Familiarity information: NOVA used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NOVA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A star that ejects some of its material in the form of a cloud and becomes more luminous in the process

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("nova" is a kind of...):

star ((astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior)

 Context examples 

Any bacterial organism that can be assigned to the species Nocardia nova.

(Nocardia nova, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

N. nova is found in the soil and is a causative agent of nocardiosis.

(Nocardia nova, NCI Thesaurus)

The X-ray data show hot gas and the radio data show emission from electrons that have been accelerated to high energies by the nova shock wave.

("Mini Supernova" Explosion Could Have Big Impact, NASA)

They say it may be possible to see a binary star in the Cygnus constellation merge and explode in 2022, creating a red nova.

(Star Explosion Could Change Night Sky, VOA News)

If the new red nova does materialize, it will be visible in Cygnus in the prominent formation called the Northern Cross.

(Star Explosion Could Change Night Sky, VOA News)

Today, astronomers cite GK Persei as an example of a “classical nova,” an outburst produced by a thermonuclear explosion on the surface of a white dwarf star, the dense remnant of a Sun-like star.

("Mini Supernova" Explosion Could Have Big Impact, NASA)

The astronomers then compared that data to an observed creation of a red nova from the binary V1309 Scorpii, which led them to conclude a red nova might be about to form at KIC 9832227.

(Star Explosion Could Change Night Sky, VOA News)