FAR ULTRAVIOLET SPECTROSCOPY OF THE RECURRENT NOVA T PYXIDIS.

With six recorded nova outbursts, the prototypical recurrent nova T Pyxidis (T Pyx) is the ideal cataclysmic variable system to assess the net change of the white dwarf mass within a nova cycle. Recent estimates of the mass ejected in the 2011 outburst ranged from a few ~10 to 3.3 × 10, and assuming a mass accretion rate of 10-10 yr for 44 yr, it has been concluded that the white dwarf in T Pyx is actually losing mass.