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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
Observations of spatially resolved nova shells and reconstructions from emission line profiles show that a ring/blob asymmetry in the ejecta of novae is very common (Martin 1989). The polar blobs expand more rapidly than the equatorial rings, giving the ejecta an overall prolate geometry.
Observations of the formation of carbonaceous and silicate dusts in the same nova provide unambiguous evidence that abundance gradients exist in the ejecta. Carbonaceous dusts form where carbon is more abundant than oxygen and vice versa for silicates (Evans 1990; Gehrz et al. 1992; Smith, Aitken & Roche 1994; Snijders et al. 1987).