OSIRIS (Optical System for Imaging and low Resolution Integrated
Spectroscopy) was the optical Day One instrument for the 10.4m Spanish
telescope GTC. It is installed at the Observatorio del Roque de Los
Muchachos (La Palma, Spain). This instrument has been operational since
March-2009 and covers from 360 to 1000 nm. OSIRIS observing modes
include direct imaging with tunable and conventional filters, long slit
and low resolution spectroscopy. OSIRIS wide field of view and high
efficiency provide a powerful tool for the scientific exploitation of GTC. OSIRIS was developed by a Consortium…
The eruption of a (classical) nova is widely accepted to be a recurrent
event in the lifetime of a cataclysmic binary star. In-between eruptions
the system should therefore behave as a "normal" cataclysmic variable
(CV), i.e. according to its characteristic properties like the
mass-transfer rate or the strength of the magnetic field of the white
dwarf. How important are these characteristics for the nova eruption
itself, i.e. which type of systems preferably undergo a nova eruption?
This question could in principle be addressed by comparing the post-nova
systems with the general…
