Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 2000
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000hst..prop.8677f&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #8677
Physics
Hst Proposal Id #8677 Stellar Populations
Scientific paper
The two goals of this proposal are: {1} to provide the first homogeneous observational constraints on theoretical models for novae outbursts; and {2} to assess the reliability of novae as standard candles. We propose to accomplish these goals by using WFPC2 to collect well sampled light curves for 20-50 novae in the supergiant elliptical galaxy NGC 4472, the brightest galaxy within 30 Mpc. Both the length of the observing window and the temporal sampling of the observations are specifically designed to ensure that the novae peak magnitudes and decline rates are measured accurately. These data will be used to construct the first `Maximum Magnitude versus Rate of Decline' {MMRD} relation for a galaxy beyond the Local Group. This relation is not only a potentially powerful standard candle, but its shape and dispersion are directly linked to physical parameters which govern the physics of novae outbursts such as the white dwarf mass, temperature and mass accretion rate. At present, it is impossible to investigate the universality of the MMRD relation since there exist no more than 30 extra-galactic novae with well sampled light curves {most in M31 and the LMC}. Our short survey will therefore double the sample of novae light curves accumulated during the past century, and will provide the first strong observational constraints on theoretical models of novae production and outburst.
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