Hubble image archive
Nova in Binary Star System HM Sagittae (Artist's Concept)
This artist’s concept shows the nova system HM Sagittae (HM Sge), where a white dwarf star is pulling material from its red giant companion. This forms a blazing hot disk around the dwarf, which can unpredictably undergo a spontaneous thermonuclear explosion as the infall of hydr...
- Date
- Jun 10, 2024
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2024-018-01hybd6bxkv8ybwka5jyjv3dmm
This artist’s concept shows the nova system HM Sagittae (HM Sge), where a white dwarf star is pulling material from its red giant companion. This forms a blazing hot disk around the dwarf, which can unpredictably undergo a spontaneous thermonuclear explosion as the infall of hydrogen from the red giant grows denser and reaches a tipping point. These fireworks between companion stars are fascinating to astronomers by yielding insights into the physics and dynamics of stellar evolution in binary systems.
More Images From This Period
Downloads
- Full res "Artist's Concept" watermarked (for display), 3840 X 2160, PNG (9.07 MB)
- Full res "Artist's Concept" watermarked (for print), 3840 X 2160, TIF (11.02 MB)
- Full res (for display), 3840 X 2160, PNG (9.09 MB)
- Half res (for display), 1920 X 1080, PNG (2.37 MB)
- Full res (for print), 3840 X 2160, TIF (11.01 MB)
Source
Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
View on NASA.gov