Spitzer Space Telescope - General Observer Proposal #30076 Spitzer observations of adolescent novae Principal Investigator: Aneurin Evans Institution: Keele University Co-Investigators: Robert Gehrz, University of Minnesota Charles Woodward, University of Minnesota Elisha Polomsky, University of Minnesota Joachim Krautter, Landessternewarte Heidelberg R. Mark Wagner, University of Arizona Sumner Starrfield, Arizona State University Andrew Helton, University of Minnesota James Lyke, Keck Observatory James Truran, University of Chicago Steven Shore, Universita di Pisa Mark Rushton, Keele University Alberto Salama, European Space Agency Science Category: evolved stars/pn/sne Observing Modes: IrsStare Hours Approved: 14.3 Abstract: Classical novae (CNe) offer the best opportunity to observe many astrophysical processes (such as dust formation and processing, shaping of nebulae, gas cooling by IR fine structure lines) in `fast forward'. The CN eruption arises following a thermonuclear runaway on the surface of a white dwarf in a semi-detached binary system, following which some 10^-4 Msun of material, enriched in metals, is explosively ejected at ~1000km/s. Following the eruption, CNe vary rapidly, on a timescale ~months, and this necessitates continuous monitoring. Several novae were observed in GO1 as targets-of-opportunity (ToO). We propose to use the Spitzer IRS to observe a sample of novae, including GO1 ToO and several recent (<20years) CNe, to provide us with a well-populated CN parameter space. We aim to determine (i) the ejecta masses, (ii) abundances in the ejected material, (iii) evolution and processing of the CN dust.