Novae: a recent addition to very-high-energy gamma-ray sky

by Julian Sitarek (University of Lodz)

Friday Feb 6, 2026, 2:00 PM → 3:00 PM Europe/Madrid

C7b/058 - Seminar (IFAE Main Building C7b)

Novae are thermonuclear explosions on a surface of a white dwarf caused by a matter transfer from a companion star in a binary stellar system. Due to their high optical brightness they appear as a "new" star on the sky. Since less then two decades we know that acceleration of high-energy particles occur in novae outbursts. In 2021 the first nova, RS Oph was detected by Cherenkov telescopes in VHE gamma rays. I will describe the gamma-ray observations of novae, and present models for such an emission and discuss the connection to Galactic cosmic rays. I will also introduce the next major novae which explosion is imminent, TCrB.

There will be cookies after the colloquium.

202602_novae.pdf