Nova

A Marvel Comics superheroine.

Nova (alter ego: Frankie Raye) was the only person to be a fifth member of The Fantastic Four, supplementing the quartet rather than acting as a substitute member.

A relative of the creator of the original Human Torch (don't ask, it's complicated), Frankie met Johnny Storm, and soon began to suspect that she was a hot little number herself.

With the help of Reed Richards, Frankie learned that she could sheathe herself in a field of plasma and also possessed powers of pyrokinesis. Richards offered her membership in the FF(ive), and somewhat predictably, she and Johnny began to date.

One of Frankie's first missions with the team was against the mighty Galactus. She left the group at this time to become his herald, thus sparing the earth from his hunger. After Galactus freed her from her duties, she joined forces with the Silver Surfer to try and save Galactus from his newest herald. Unfortunately, Frankie died during this battle.

All characters contained herein were created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Marvel Comics.

Nova explores what it means to be human, through the device of a quest -- in this case, the quest of Captain Lorq Von Ray to snatch seven tons of stable transuranic Illyrium from the heart of an exploding star. The basic cast of early Delaney appears -- Kid Orpheus (here answering to the Mouse), one foot bare, with his treasured musical instrument; the beautiful and seemingly fragile Kyy with her husband the Beastmaster Sebastian; Lycenos and Idas, twins, one black, the other albino, the Innocents; the chronicler Katin, with his jewelled recorder containing 100,000+ words of notes but not one word of actual novel.

These characters coalesce around Lorq Von Ray, scion of the most powerful family in the Pleiades Federation, in his mission to destroy his rivals, Prince and Ruby Red, heirs of Redshift Limited, the leading family/corporation of Draco, the large empire surrounding Earth. Seven tons of Illyrium spells economic ruin for Redshift, as well as for the mining-based economy of the Outer Colonies. But for Lorq, and increasingly for his crew, the Illyrium is more than just wealth and fame, but salvation.

One interesting note -- I believe this novel may be the first major work featuring charcters who jack into computers with sockets. It is such a matter-of-fact thing, in this universe, that it is the only activity defined as "work", and the sockets are ubiquitous.

From time to time, a very bright star will appear in the heavens, shine brilliantly for a time, then disappear. One such historical event, the Star of Bethlehem, could have been a nova.

Many stars have a companion star, forming a binary system, each orbiting the other. Most double stars have one companion significantly larger than the other, which may be large enough to form a red giant, which then collapses to form a white dwarf. When this happens, it may draw matter from the less dense companion to form an accretion disk around itself (rather like a much larger version of Saturn's rings). The build-up of pressure and temperature caused by this layer may become high enough to start fusion, at which point an explosion is triggered, which blows the material off into space as an expanding shell of energetic gas. (If the star does not lose too much of its mass, or continues to leech material from its companion, it may repeat after a period, which may be as short as fifty years. Many optically variable stars are periodic novae.)

This explosion can be incredibly bright, as much as 50,000 times brighter than our own Sun, and consequently, is visible over vast astronomical distances. What appears to the naked eye is a new star (stella nova) which may outshine all others for a few days or weeks, before vanishing again. The remnants of this expanding sphere of gas may be seen through telescopes as a small bright ring, for a long time afterward. Although not as spectacular as nebulae produced by supernovae, these are nonetheless beautiful objects.

So, apart from their sudden beauty, why the interest in novae? Well, for one thing, elements heavier than iron cannot be produced by fusion in 'normal' stars - our own Sun is unlikely to produce anything heavier than carbon. The more energetic novae may produce some transferric elements, although supernovae are the most prolific creators of the heavier atoms. We owe our very existence to these violent and beautiful objects.

Thanks to unperson who pointed out that the explosion happens in the star, not the accretion disk.

A BattleMech. Nova is the clan name - the Inner Sphere designation is Black Hawk.

Nova is a 50-ton OmniMech. It has been described as a "jack of all trades, master of none". Heavy 'Mech pilots keep joking about it: "when we use those, I need to watch out or I might step on them..."

In its primary configuration, it carries a whole lot of medium-extended-range lasers. This usually generates the thing that we in business call "excessive heat". Commonly seen alternate configuration includes extended-range PPCs, and it's not a bad choice. Another common configuration carries lasers, autocannons and machine guns for variety freaks.

Also, among the Clans, a Nova is a special type of star: A normal star of BattleMechs plus one point of Elementals, totalling 5 of both.

Richard Rider was a high school student attending Harry S. Truman High School and working at Uncle Fudge's Ice Cream Parlor when his life took an unexpected but very "Hal Jordan" turn. A dying alien hero with amazing powers named Rhomann Dey decided to transfer his power to young Rider in hopes that he would stop his foe. This is nearly exactly like how Hal Jordan acquired his ring from the dying Abin Sur and became the Green Lantern.

There were a few differences. First, the powers came in the form of flight, invulnerability, and immense strength not costume jewelry. Second, the transfer of power put Rider in a coma for a brief period. Third, Rider wasn't really picked per se, but instead Dey had his ship pick a human at random. The fact that the power was not bestowed upon Ruth Buzzie, Ted Kennedy, Maya Angelou, Barry Manilow, or John Rocker should be the source of much thanks to God by the general populace.

Rhomann Dey was a centurion in the Nova Corps, a group of super powered beings from the planet Xandar. Their planet had been ravaged by an alien named Zorr and Dey had followed him. The ensuing battle had mortally wounded Dey and he transfered his power to Rider. Dressed in Dey's Nova Corps uniform, Rider battled Zorr until Dey transported Zorr to Dey's space craft and then initiated self-destruct.

Rider became a superhero calling himself Nova. He battled evil in its many formes over the months to come. He eventually traveled to Xandar in the company of a number of other heroes and the villain Sphinx, who wished to gain knowledge from the vast computers on Xandar. They arrived at Xandar to find it under attack from the Skrulls. With the help of the Fantastic Four, Nova and his companions were able to repel the Skrulls and defeat the Sphinx.

Nova planned to return to Earth, but was told that he would have to renounce his powers and have the removed for they were needed for the rebuilding of Xandar. Rider agreed and returned to Earth and his family. Rider found that his life without his powers was dull and he fell into a depression.

Rider was approached by the hero Night Thrasher, who had hypothesized that Rider still possessed his Nova powers, but that they lay dormant inside him. To jump start their reactivation, Night Thrasher pushed Rider off a building, which did exactly as Thrasher had expected. Rider returned to heroing, taking the name Kid Nova for a bit, but later returning to the original Nova. He joined Night Thrasher's newly organized team, the New Warriors.

Rider again returned to Xandar which had been ravaged by the villainess Nebula. He was taken there by a rogue member of the Nova Corps who believed that Rider possessed a power that would restore the planet. Rider was stripped of his powers again and Xandar was returned to its former state. He was later given his powers back with additional powers including something called a gravometric pulse that causes immense damage.

Nova and his fellow New Warrior Namorita were romantically involved for a time, but have recently broken off their relationship.

NOVA (Newberg's Opportunities for the Very Able) is a regional program open to anyone, provided they are willing to take an advanced course, usually falling in the guidelines of "harder than AP". There is also a NOVA Explore option available at Newberg High School in which high school students explore a subject of their own choosing. Subjects can be absolutely anything as long as it complies with the standards listed in the Code of Conduct (namely, nothing obscene or pornographic.). Independent study classes are also available and are taught with Explore classes.

The main difference between an Explore class and an Independent study is that while Explore classes are of anything the students desire, Independent study is limited to only the courses taught in the school. Independent study is designed for people who opt out of working in a standard classroom, if a required course doesn't fit into the student's schedule, or if they need to re-take a failed class.

To apply for an Explore or an Independent study class, all that is needed are signatures from a Counselor, the NOVA Coordinator, and an Instructor in the field of your subject (if applicable). Then create a two-page proposal that states your actions in this Explore, the product that will come from it, and the methods you will take for obtaining desired product.

However, lack of funding for the entire Newberg School District is threatening the Explore/Independent Study program, and may cease to exist in seven to eight weeks, as of January 17, 2003.

No"va (nO"va), n.; pl. L. Novæ (-vE), E. Novas (-vaz). [L., fem. sing. of novus new.] (Astron.)

A new star, usually appearing suddenly, shining for a brief period, and then sinking into obscurity. Such appearances are supposed to result from cosmic collisions, as of a dark star with interstellar nebulosities. The most important modern novæ are: --
No"va Co*ro"næ Bo`re*a"lis (&?;) [1866]; No"va Cyg"ni (&?;) [1876]; No"va An*dro"me*dæ (&?;) [1885]; No"va Au*ri"gæ (&?;) [1891-92]; No"va Per"se*i (&?;) [1901]. There are two novæ called Nova Persei. They are:

(a) A small nova which appeared in 1881.

(b) An extraordinary nova which appeared in Perseus in 1901. It was first sighted on February 22, and for one night (February 23) was the brightest star in the sky. By July it had almost disappeared, after which faint surrounding nebulous masses were discovered, apparently moving radially outward from the star at incredible velocity.

© Webster 1913