About 30 – 60 classical novae occur in the Milky Way each year. These luminous events can appear in the night sky like “new stars” and are often observed by amateur astronomers.  Classical nova explosions occur in stellar binaries involving a compact white dwarf and a hydrogen-rich donor star.  On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Tamas Budner. Tamas is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy who conducts research at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. Tamas is an experimental nuclear astrophysicist studying radioactive isotopes to better understand the underlying thermonuclear reactions in these events and how they affect the properties of novae.  If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected]. You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube!