Classical nova explosions occur when hydrogen accreted on the surface of a white dwarf ignites and the resulting thermonuclear explosion powers a bright transient. Recent detection of very high-energy non-thermal gamma rays correlated with optical variability and direct imaging at radio wavelengths suggest that classical novae are far from being “spherical cows”. In particular, one of the theories suggest that classical novae first eject slow material in the orbital plane, which is then overtaken by faster and more spherical wind/explosion. The resulting shock interaction powers the optical light curve, accelerates high-energy particles, and is a good site for dust formation. One implication of this model is that classical novae with favorable orientation (inclination of the binary orbit relative to the line of sight) will display higher incidence of both dust formation and photometric eclipses. The goal of this project is to test this implications based on literature search and evaluation of conditional probabilities.
References
"Shocks in nova outflows - I. Thermal emission", http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014MNRAS.442..713M
"Shocks in nova outflows - II. Synchrotron radio emission", http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016MNRAS.463..394V
"A nova outburst powered by shocks", http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017NatAs...1..697L
