prenovaadj.n.
/priːˈnəʊvə/, U.S. /priˈnoʊvə/ Astronomy.
A. adj.
Preceding development of a star into a nova.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > star > kind of star > by light > [adjective] > nova
prenova1939
1939 D. B. McLaughlin in Pop. Astron. 47 418 The pre-nova stage. During this portion of its life, the star is either constant or irregularly variable through a small range.
1940 G. Gamow Birth & Death of Sun ix. 182 Very little is known at present about these prenova stages of exploding stars.
1989 Astrophysical Jrnl. 340 1006 Understanding boundary layer heating is crucial in determining the thermal structure of the accreted envelope of a prenova white dwarf.
B. n.
A star prior to its becoming a nova.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > star > kind of star > by light > [noun] > nova
new stareOE
nova1833
supernova1932
prenova1956
starburst1977
1956 Z. Kopal in A. Beer Vistas in Astron. II. 1499 (heading) Internal constitution of the pre-novae.
1977 R. C. Smith tr. A. Unsöld New Cosmos (ed. 2) ii. xxi. 216 The initial stage, the pre-nova, is a hot star with absolute magnitude Mv ≈ +5 lying in the HR diagram between the main sequence and the white dwarfs.
2004 Astron. Jrnl. 127 2376/1 The nova ejecta collide with the disk, which in V603 Aql surrounds only the prenova and not its companion.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1939