The morphology and optical spectrum of IPHAS XJ210205+471015, a nebula classified as a possible planetary nebula, are however strikingly similar to those of AT Cnc, a classical nova shell around a dwarf nova. To investigate its true nature, we have obtained high-resolution narrow-band [O iii] and [N ii] images and deep GTC OSIRIS optical spectra. The nebula shows an arc of [N ii]-bright knots notably enriched in nitrogen, whilst an [O iii]-bright bow-shock is progressing throughout the ISM. Diagnostic line ratios indicate that shocks are associated with the arc and bow-shock. The central star of this nebula has been identified by its photometric variability. Timeresolved photometric and spectroscopic data of this source reveal a period of 4.26 hours which is attributed to a binary system. The optical spectrum is notably similar to that of RW Sex, a cataclysmic variable star (CV) of the UX UMa nova-like (NL) type. Based on these results, we propose that IPHASX J210205+471015 is a classical nova shell observed around a CV-NL system in quiescence.

Nova shells can provide us with important information on their distance, their interactions with the circumstellar and interstellar media, and the evolution in morphology of the ejecta. We have obtained narrow-band images of a sample of five nova shells, namely DQ Her, FH Ser, T Aur, V476 Cyg, and V533 Her, with ages in the range from 50 to 130 years. These images have been compared with suitable available archival images to derive their angular expansion rates. We find that all the nova shells in our sample are still in the free expansion phase, which can be expected, as the mass of the ejecta is 7-45 times larger than the mass of the swept-up circumstellar medium. The nova shells will keep expanding freely for time periods up to a few hundred years, reducing their time dispersal into the interstellar medium

HuBi 1 has been proposed to be member of the rare class of born-again planetary nebulae (PNe), i.e., its central star experienced a very late thermal pulse and ejected highly processed material at high speeds inside the old hydrogen-rich PN. In this Letter we present GTC MEGARA integral field spectroscopic observations of the innermost regions of HuBi 1 at high spectral resolution ≃16 km s−1 and multi-epoch subarcsecond images obtained ≃12 yr apart. The analysis of these data indicates that the inner regions of HuBi 1 were ejected ≃200 yr ago and expand at velocities ≃300 km s−1, in excellent agreement with the born-again scenario. The unprecedented tomographic capabilities of the GTC MEGARA high-dispersion observations used here reveal that the ejecta in HuBi 1 has a shell-like structure, in contrast to the disrupted disk and jet morphology of the ejecta in other born-again PNe.

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We present long-slit intermediate-dispersion spectroscopic observations and narrow-band direct imaging of four classical nova shells, namely T Aur, HR Del, DQ Her and QU Vul, and the nova-like source CK Vul. These are used to construct models of their nebular remnants using the morpho-kinematic modelling tool shape to reveal their 3D shape. All these nova remnants but CK Vul can be described by prolate ellipsoidal shells with different eccentricity degree, from the spherical QU Vul to the highly elongated shell with an equatorial component HR Del. On the other hand, CK Vul shows a more complex structure, with two pairs of nested bipolar lobes. The spatio-kinematic properties of the ellipsoidal nova shells derived from our models include their true axial ratios. This parameter is expected to correlate with the expansion velocity and decline time t3 (i.e. their speed class) of a nova as the result the interaction of the ejecta with the circumstellar material and rotation speed and magnetic field of the white dwarf. We have compared these three parameters including data available in the literature for another two nova shells, V533 Her and FH Ser. There is an anti-correlation between the expansion velocity and the axial ratio and decline time t3 for nova remnants with ellipsoidal morphology, and a correlation between their axial ratios and decline times t3, confirming theoretical expectations that the fastest expanding novae have the smallest axial ratios. We note that the high expansion velocity of the nova shell HR Del of 615 km s−1 is inconsistent with its long decline time t3 of 250 days.