as in supernova
astronomy
a star that suddenly increases greatly in brightness and then within a few months or years becomes less bright again
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Recent Examples of nova
Even though novas are exceptionally bright, supernovas are brighter—reaching billions of times brighter than the sun at their peak.
—
Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 July 2025
Recorded live at the Lincoln Center, the band plays a bossa-nova take on the song while Gaga sings solo, wearing one of Cher’s own wigs.
—Kristen S. Hé, Vulture, 19 Mar. 2025
To get a separate measure of how unusual this is, the researchers placed 8 million novas around the center of the galaxy, with the distribution being random but biased to match the galaxy's brightness under the assumption that novas will be more frequent in areas with more stars.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 27 Sep. 2024
Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 July 2025
Recorded live at the Lincoln Center, the band plays a bossa-nova take on the song while Gaga sings solo, wearing one of Cher’s own wigs.
—Kristen S. Hé, Vulture, 19 Mar. 2025
To get a separate measure of how unusual this is, the researchers placed 8 million novas around the center of the galaxy, with the distribution being random but biased to match the galaxy's brightness under the assumption that novas will be more frequent in areas with more stars.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 27 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nova
Noun
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The very largest supernovas leave behind black holes, infamous for their great mystery.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
14 Aug. 2025
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Since then, astronomers have observed a further 2,000 Type 1a supernovas with different telescopes.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
24 July 2025
Noun
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In November 1968, the core of the exploded star was discovered to be a pulsar; a rapidly rotating neutron star, spinning at a rate of 30.2 times per second.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
28 July 2025
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Christiansen presents and writes on topics ranging from reconciling her love for art and science to her quest to learn more about the pulsar chart on the cover of Joy Division's album Unknown Pleasures.—
Jen Christiansen,
Scientific American,
25 June 2025
Noun
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Still, blazars, because of this serendipitous orientation, tend to appear even brighter than the already ridiculously bright quasars.—
Monisha Ravisetti,
Space.com,
13 Aug. 2025
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Stars burn like celestial nuclear fusion reactors, quasars emit thousands of times the luminosity of the Milky Way galaxy, and asteroids slam into planets.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
4 June 2025
Noun
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These variables offer opportunities to strengthen trust with existing families and network with up-and-coming generations, ultimately achieving results that corporations, primarily focused on quarterly profits, often ignore or struggle to satisfy adequately.—
Geoff Whitmore,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
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The final crucial variable is the ratio of water to coffee.—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Because of its proximity to the dying supergiant star, gravitational forces will cause Betelbuddy to spiral into Betelgeuse within the next 10,000 years, per a statement from the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab.—
Sara Hashemi,
Smithsonian Magazine,
22 July 2025
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That’s well within the red supergiant star’s outer atmosphere.—
Jamie Carter,
Forbes.com,
21 July 2025
Noun
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Pulsars are neutron stars — the ultradense leftover cores of long-dead stars — that spin rapidly and emit radiation at regular intervals.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
28 July 2025
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Signals from scattering black holes and neutron stars should be within reach of the next generation of gravitational-wave detectors that are set to come online in the late 2030s.—
Ramin Skibba,
Scientific American,
13 May 2025
Noun
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Meta's first supercluster, called Prometheus, is slated to go live in 2026.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
21 July 2025
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Zuckerberg said Meta’s first supercluster is called Prometheus, and that the company is building several other multi-gigawatt clusters.—
Ashley Capoot,
CNBC,
14 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nova.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nova. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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