Binary systems that produce classical novae (like this one) don't "die". Moreover, the star that they identified is a confirmed binary system with an evolved la

Binary systems that produce classical novae (like this one) don't "die". Moreover, the star that they identified is a confirmed binary system with an evolved late-type star and a white dwarf, which is precisely the kind of system that you need to produce a classical nova. (Part of the paper is data demonstrating this, including the orbital period -- about half a day -- of the system). In addition, it has produced minor ("dwarf nova") outbursts several times in the last century, which is what you'd predict for a system in the "hibernation" period between classical nova outbursts. So it's not just the spatial match-up -- there's a lot of additional supporting evidence that this binary system is in fact the one what done the deed.