[ noun ] a star that ejects some of its material in the form of a cloud and become more luminous in the process <noun.object>
Nova \No"va\ (n[=o]"v[.a]), n.; pl. L. {Novae} (n[=o]"v[=e]), E. {Novas} (n[=o]"v[.a]z). [L., fem. sing. of novus new.] (Astron.) A star which suddenly increases in brightness thousands of times, then fades back to near its original intensity. It may appear as a ``new'' star if its original brightness was too low for routine observation. A star which suddenly increases in brightness to many millions of times its original intensity is a {supernova}, and the postulated mechanisms for the increases of brightness of novae and supernovae are different.
Note: The most important modern nov[ae] are:
{No"va Co*ro"n[ae] Bo`re*a"lis}[1866];
{No"va Cyg"ni}[1876];
{No"va An*dro"me*d[ae]}[1885];
{No"va Au*ri"g[ae]}[1891-92];
{No"va Per"se*i}[1901]. There are two nov[ae] called {Nova Persei}. They are: (a) A small nova which appeared in 1881. (b) An extraordinary nova which appeared in Perseus in 1901. It was first sighted on February 22, and for one night (February 23) was the brightest star in the sky. By July it had almost disappeared, after which faint surrounding nebulous masses were discovered, apparently moving radially outward from the star at incredible velocity. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
It wasn't until the late 1950s and early 1960s that samba stepped from the hillside slums and toward the musical mainstream with bossa nova.
Bossa nova and samba singer Elizeth Cardoso, who in her heyday was known as "The Divine," has died of stomach cancer.
Hewitt, a science museum educator in Berkeley, Calif., has access to the telescope as soon as the next star is observed going nova.
But hard to capture in the Brazilian-inspired American tunes and the compilations are the cultural and political roots of Brazilian music, which stretches from throbbing samba to the softer bossa nova.
Hewitt plans to use the light generated by the nova to discover literally billions of comets that astronomers believe may surround stars.
As well as ballads and jazz, she included a bossa nova, had a rock beat behind "Ain't Nobody's Business," sang a Stevie Wonder song _ and did a gentle rap.