Today in the history of astronomy, the fastest nova ever recorded blooms and fades in just a day.
Researchers believe V1674 Herculis is part of an intermediate polar system, in which a white dwarf absorbs matter from its companion star into its accretion disk. Credit: Mark Garlick
On June 12, 2021, Nova Herculis 2021 (V1674 Herculis) erupted, and was discovered by amateur astronomer Seiji Ueda of Japan. The white dwarf quickly became visible to the naked eye, surging to 10,000 times brighter than it originally had been. Its speed was unprecedented: V1674 Herculis faded from that peak brightness in just over one day, making it the fastest nova ever recorded. Researchers continue to study that speed, as well as the unusual “wobble” – a pulsing light every 501 seconds – V1674 Herculis displayed.
