The post-nova population

TL;DR

This study aims to identify and characterize post-nova systems by re-discovering lost novae, using photometry and spectroscopy to confirm candidates and measure their orbital periods, thereby enhancing understanding of nova evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive method combining photometry and spectroscopy to find and analyze previously unobserved post-novae, filling gaps in nova population data.

Findings

Identification of new post-nova candidates.

Spectroscopic confirmation of post-novae.

Measurement of orbital periods for some systems.

Abstract

We here present our on-going project to unveil the post-nova population by re-discovering old novae that have been lost after the initial outburst and of which the binary itself is unobserved. We take UBVR photometry for the candidate selection, long-slit spectroscopy to confirm these candidates, and time-resolved spectroscopy to measure the orbital period of the newly confirmed post-novae. Some preliminary results are shown as examples.