Science with an ngVLA: ngVLA Studies of Classical Novae

TL;DR

The paper discusses how the next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) will revolutionize the study of classical novae by enabling detailed, high-resolution observations of their ejecta, outflows, and shock physics, surpassing current capabilities.

Contribution

It introduces the potential of ngVLA to significantly advance nova research through improved sensitivity, resolution, and monitoring capabilities, offering new insights into their complex physics.

Findings

ngVLA will observe more distant and fainter novae

it will resolve thermal and non-thermal ejecta components

monitoring will reveal ejecta evolution in detail

Abstract

Observations with modern radio telescopes have revealed that classical novae are far from the simple, spherically symmetric events they were once assumed to be. It is now understood that novae provide excellent laboratories to study several astrophysical properties including binary interactions, stellar outflows, and shock physics. The ngVLA will provide unprecedented opportunities to study these events. It will enable us to observe more distant and fainter novae than we can today. It will allow us to simultaneously resolve both the thermal and non-thermal components in the ejecta. Finally, monitoring novae with the ngVLA will reveal the evolution of the ejecta in better detail than is possible with any current instrument.