Gamma‐ray lines from classical novae

There is now a wealth of evidence supporting the idea that classical novae are thermonuclear runaways on white dwarfs. Explosive hydrogen burning produces substantial quantities of unstable nuclei. These nuclei emit γ‐rays and β+’s which might be detectable to present and future γ‐ray spectrometers. Here we describe the production and observability of several unstable nuclei, review the observations made to date, evaluate the prospects for future observations, and discuss the importance of detection of γ‐rays for improving our understanding of the nova phenomenon.