**This is the Biggest Nova Super-Remnant Ever Discovered**
*By Dwaipayan Roy | Sep 27, 2025 | 04:02 PM*
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### What’s the Story?
A team of astronomers has made a groundbreaking discovery of a rare nova super-remnant (NSR) surrounding the recurrent nova LMCN 1971-08a in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Notably, this marks the first time an NSR has been detected in the LMC.
The discovery was unveiled through meticulous analysis of data from multiple astronomical surveys combined with observations from the MeerKAT radio telescope. The findings have been published on the arXiv preprint server.
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### What Are Nova Super-Remnants?
Nova super-remnants are enormous shell-like structures that far exceed the size of typical individual eruption nova shells. These massive shells form when repeated nova eruptions force surrounding material outward, piling it into a dense outer shell over time.
While NSRs are theoretically expected to form around all novae, only four such structures have been discovered to date—three within our own galaxy and now one in the LMC.
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### About LMCN 1971-08a
LMCN 1971-08a is one of only four known recurrent novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It has a recurrence period of approximately 38 years, with its last recorded eruption in 2009.
This fast-declining nova system features a white dwarf with a mass estimated between 1.1 and 1.3 solar masses. The white dwarf accretes material from its companion sub-giant star. The probable orbital period of the binary system is around 1.2 days.
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### The Discovery
Led by Michael W. Healy-Kalesh of Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander University, the research team identified a coherent, shell-like structure coincident with the position of LMCN 1971-08a.
This structure exhibits a circular shape that is notably brighter in the northeast and southwest regions, with a fainter boundary connecting these areas toward the northwest. Based on the collected data, this structure has been confirmed as a nova super-remnant, spanning an impressive diameter of about 650 light years.
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### Structure Details: The Largest Nova Super-Remnant Yet
The outer shell of the NSR around LMCN 1971-08a is estimated to contain roughly 4,130 solar masses of material and expands at a velocity close to 20 km/s.
The age of this nova super-remnant is calculated to be approximately 2.4 million years, making it the largest NSR ever discovered to date.
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This discovery not only sheds light on the lifecycle of recurrent novae but also opens new avenues for understanding the dynamics of nova eruptions and their impact on surrounding interstellar environments.
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/lmcn-1971-08a-found-in-the-large-magellanic-cloud/story