Orbital Period of Novae Before Eruption

Abstract

Since significant mass loss occurs in classical nova eruptions, it is very likely that the orbital period of any classical nova will change when it experiences an eruption. After the eruption, the orbital period can be measured by conventional photometric and spectroscopic techniques. However, we still do not know any pre-eruption orbital periods, since no individual nova was known prior to its eruption. For eclipsing systems, one possible way to measure the prenova orbital period is to look for eclipses on archival photographic plates.