01 n. A star which suddenly increases in brightness thousands of times, then fades back to near its original intensity. It may appear as a “new”…
pl.
Novae, Novas ((nō"vē))
-
1.
A star which suddenly increases in brightness thousands of times, then fades back to near its original intensity. It may appear as a “new” star if its original brightness was too low for routine observation. A star which suddenly increases in brightness to many millions of times its original intensity is a supernova, and the postulated mechanisms for the increases of brightness of novae and supernovae are different.(Astron.) See: supernova