V382 Velorum, also known as Nova Velorum 1999, was a bright

nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

which occurred in 1999 in the southern constellation Vela. V382 Velorum reached a brightness of 2.6 magnitude, making it easily visible to the naked eye. It was discovered by Peter Williams of

Heathcote, New South Wales Heathcote is a suburb, in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Heathcote is located 36 km south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire. Heathcote is bordered by Engadine to the north and Wat ...

, Australia at 09:30 UT on 22 May 1999. Later that same day it was discovered independently at 10:49 UT by

Alan C. Gilmore Alan Charles Gilmore (born 1944 in Greymouth, New Zealand) is a New Zealand astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets and other astronomical objects. He is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 41 minor planets, all but ...

Mount John University Observatory University of Canterbury Mount John Observatory (UCMJO), previously known as Mt John University Observatory (MJUO), is New Zealand's premier astronomical research observatory. It is situated at ASL atop Mount John at the northern end of the ...

in New Zealand. In its quiescent state, V382 Velorum has a mean visual magnitude of 16.56. It is classified as a fast nova with a smooth light curve. Like all novae, V382 Velorum is a binary system with two stars orbiting so close to each other that one star, the "donor" star, transfers matter to its companion star which is a white dwarf. The orbital period is 3.5 hours. The white dwarf in this system has a mass of 1.23 M_⊙. V382 Velorum is a

neon nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

, a relatively rare type of nova with a

O-Ne-Mg white dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes ...

, rather than the more common C-O white dwarf. The stars forming V382 Velorum are surrounded by a small emission nebula about 10 arc seconds in diameter.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20060517025834/http://institutocopernico.org/cartas/v382velb.gif * https://web.archive.org/web/20050915104557/http://www.tsm.toyama.toyama.jp/curators/aroom/var/nova/1990.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:V382 Velorum Novae Vela (constellation) 1999 in science Velorum, V382