Nova is the form of a star going through a major growth spurt. It expands suddenly and increases in magnitude of brightness. In the Milky Way, only twelve novas occur per year. Novas are named after the constellation and year they appear in. These anomalies occur when many nuclear reactions cause a star's outer layer to produce too much helium. It then expands very fast and bursts with a shell of gas. With this kind of process, it is no wonder that when they are seen they are thought to be new stars that have never been there before. When in fact, they are the same stars that have been there for several thousand years, but didn't have enough energy for people to see it from Earth's surface. That is why "Nova", "New" in the Latin language, is an appropriate name for the surprising wonder.