Nova Cas 2021

[R1k]

Nova Cassiopeia 2021

- Nova image - 21/3/21 – single 30s exposure

- Reference image 3/11/20 – single 420s exposure

Very excited to share this!

On 18th March 2021, a “Nova” was discovered in the constellation of Cassiopeia. A nova is an explosion from the surface of a white-dwarf star in a binary star system. This occurs when the white dwarf, which is an electron dense core of a small/medium star which has exhausted its fuel, accumulates gas from its nearby companion star. At a critical point, an expolosion is triggered on the surface of the White Dwarf. For a brief time, this star system can shine up to a million times brighter than normal. Note that this is different from a supernova which is a much more violent stellar explosion that can shine as brightly as an entire galaxy of billions of normal stars.

I photographed this Nova last night (21/3/21). I was lucky enough to have also photographed this area of the sky (it is close to M52 cluster and the Bubble Nebula) in November last year, so I have overlayed last night’s image on this reference frame for comparison.

[Maxim Usatov]

Amazing animation, Rik. Quite a bang there in Cas!