Northwestern Events Calendar

Mar
29
2016

Laura Chomiuk: The E-Nova Project: A Multi-Wavelength Initiative to Probe the Ejecta and Environments of Novae

When: Tuesday, March 29, 2016
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM CT

Where: Technological Institute, Physics and Astronomy, room F160, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208 map it

Audience: Faculty/Staff - Student - Public - Post Docs/Docs - Graduate Students

Contact: Monica Brown   (847) 491-7650

Group: Physics and Astronomy Astrophysics Seminars

Category: Academic

Description:

Title: The E-Nova Project: A Multi-Wavelength Initiative to Probe the Ejecta and Environments of Novae

Speaker: Laura Chomiuk, Michigan State University

Abstract: When imagining a nuclear explosion, we often picture strong, spherical shock waves, like a bomb or supernova; however, nature's most common thermonuclear explosions look nothing like this, showing delayed and multiple phases of mass ejection that can last for months after the nuclear fuel is ignited. These most common explosions are novae---thermonuclear runaways on the surfaces of accreting white dwarfs---and their complexities are best revealed with an intensive multi-wavelength observational program highlighting radio and X-ray data---our E-Nova Project. I will discuss our recent results, featuring observations from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, and spotlighting sources like recent novae with giant companions and novae that have recently been detected in GeV gamma rays (an emission process that was not predicted and remains an intriguing mystery).

Host: Fred Rasio, Sourav Chatterjee

Keywords: Physics, Astronomy, colloquium

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