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Modeling the classical nova outburst. I - Exploring the physics of a new mechanismModel calculations were performed to describe a mechanism that produces classical nova outbursts on white dwarfs of 1 solar mass or less and for accretion rates of 4 x 10 to the -10th solar mass/yr or greater, i.e., the parameters corresponding to observed data of nova systems. Calculations point to four factors that can induce nuclear runaways of sufficient strength to eject about 0.0001 solar mass at speeds of several hundred to a few thousand km per second, as is observed in classical novae. These are (1) the effects of storage of angular momentum in the star's envelope during the accretion phase; (2) the reduction of centrifugal forces in the star's outer layers during the early nuclear runaway phase, through the inward transport of angular momentum; (3) the inward movement of the zone of peak nuclear burning through the convectively induced shear instability during the runaway phase; and (4) the mixing of original CO stellar matter and H-rich matter, also through the convectively induced shear instability.
Document ID
19890053007
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Kutter, G. Siegfried
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Sparks, Warren M.
(Los Alamos National Laboratory NM, United States)
Date Acquired
August 14, 2013
Publication Date
May 15, 1989
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 1
Volume: 340
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
89A40378
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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