Pre-solar grains from novae and "Born-again giants"

TL;DR

This paper reviews dust formation in classical novae and VLTPs, highlighting the presence of grains from these sources in meteoritic material and their spectral signatures in comets, challenging previous assumptions about their contributions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of dust properties from novae and VLTPs, emphasizing the detection of their grains in extraterrestrial materials and spectral data.

Findings

Grains from novae and VLTPs are found in meteoritic and cometary samples.

Infrared spectral signatures of these grains are observed in comets.

Novae can produce silicate dust, contrary to previous beliefs.

Abstract

We review the properties of dust formed during classical nova eruptions and the Very Late Thermal Pulses (VLTPs) that occur during the later stages of post-Asymptotic Giant Branch evolution of low-mass stars. In both cases, carbon and hydrocarbon dust is produced. Novae may also produce silicate dust, contrary to the usual paradigm about the C:O ratio and dust composition. Despite the expectation that these dust sources are not expected to make significant contributions to the Galactic dust population, there is a significant body of evidence that grains from both stellar sources have been identified in recovered meteoritic and cometary material, and that certain infrared spectral signatures seen in comets are common to novae, VLTPs and pre-solar grains.