When Is a Nova Not a ‘Nova’? When a White Dwarf and a Brown Dwarf Collide

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international team of astronomers found evidence that a white dwarf(the elderly remains of a star like the Sun) and a brown dwarf(a failed star without the mass to sustain nuclear fusion) collided in a short-lived blaze of glory that was witnessed on Earth in 1670 asNovasub Capite Cygni (a New Star below the Head of the Swan), which is now known as CK Vulpeculae.

What is ALMA Astronomy News?

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) -the largest astronomical project in existence- is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed of 66 high precision antennas located in northern Chile. ALMA is an international partnership of ESO (Europe), NSF (U.S) and NINS (Japan) together with NRC (Canada), MOST and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile We love the Cosmos!