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The peculiar dust shell of Nova DZ Cru (2003)

We present Spitzer Space Telescope observations of the "peculiar variable" DZ Cru, identified by Rushton et al. (2008, MNRAS, 386, 289) as a classical nova. A dust shell, on which are superimposed a number of features, is prominent in the 5-35micron range some 4 years after eruption. We suggest that the dust in DZ Cru is primarily hydrogenated amorphous carbon in which aliphatic bands currently predominate, and which may either become predominantly aromatic as the dust is photo-processed by ultraviolet radiation from the stellar remnant, or more likely completely destroyed.