The recurrent nova RS Oph is a long period (~455 days) binary system consisting of a hot white dwarf with mass close to the Chandrasekhar limit and an M-type giant secondary. Here we present the results of photometric observations of this nova which were made during recent years with the telescopes of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute in Crimea.

RS Ophiuchi (RS Oph) is a symbiotic binary consisting of a hot white dwarf accreting from the slow, dense stellar wind of a cool, red giant companion. The system belongs to, and is one of the best studied examples of, an even smaller subclass of binaries known as recurrent novae in which the white dwarf undergoes repeated thermonuclear outbursts. We present 3D smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) models of mass transfer from the red giant to the white dwarf, followed by a nova outburst. We show that the outflow in the former is strongly concentrated towards the binary orbital plane. The nova ejecta is thus constrained in the equatorial directions, resulting in a bipolar outflow. The white dwarf in RS Oph is thought to be close to the Chandrasekhar mass, making the system a likely Type Ia supernova candidate. We discuss the role that such a highly structured circumstellar medium will play in the evolution of the supernova remnant.

In this review, I summarize the observational attempts made so far to unveil the nature of the progenitor system(s) of Type Ia supernovae. In particular, I focus on the most recent developments that followed the claimed detection of circumstellar material around a few events, and on the link this possibly establishes with recurrent novae. In this framework, I then discuss the case of RS Oph, what we know of its circumstellar environment, and what this is telling us about its supposed connection to Type Ia supernovae explosions.