Assist. Prof. Dr. Gregor Traven (FMF): Outstanding stars in the Galaxy

As we get ready to observe a "new star" (nova) in the northern sky, soon to be visible with the naked eye, I want to present our efforts in exploring the nature of some of the outstanding stars in our Galaxy. Stars can live very different lives and also provide important feedback to their host galaxy, thus shaping its evolution. This is even more true in the case of binary stars. These gravitationally bound stellar systems can evolve quite dramatically, especially when they are on close enough orbits to facilitate some exchange of matter between the two components. The discussion will revolve around the sub-population of binary stars where one component is a red giant and the other a white dwarf - the last stage in a life of stars similar to our Sun. I will describe the observational methods to discover and characterise such objects and illustrate how they can help us answer some of the open questions about our universe.