Speaker
Ashley Ruiter
(UNSW Canberra)
Description
Over 95% of stars end their lives as white dwarfs - many of which are found in binary star systems that are interacting. Accreting white dwarfs are responsible for some of the most energetic phenomena in the Universe (Type Ia supernovae), though most accreting white dwarfs will not explode. However, the periodic eruptions of some accreting systems (e.g. cataclysmic variables) have recently been of interest since gamma ray emission (>100 MeV) has been detected arising from several nova events. I will give a brief overview of binary systems that host novae, and give an estimate of how many nova events we may expect in the Local Universe.
Primary author
Ashley Ruiter
(UNSW Canberra)
