Overview
- Using the CHARA Array, astronomers imaged nova V1674 Herculis just 2–3 days after discovery and found two perpendicular outflows whose interaction likely produced the observed gamma rays.
- Observations of the very slow nova V1405 Cassiopeiae indicate the bulk envelope was not expelled for more than 50 days, consistent with a temporary common-envelope phase before ejection.
- Gemini spectra tracked evolving gas signatures that matched the imaged structures, reinforcing a picture of colliding flows that generate shocks and high-energy emission.
- The results challenge the long-held view of novae as single, impulsive blasts by revealing multiple, interacting outflows and postponed mass loss.
- The findings appear in a Dec. 8 arXiv preprint led by Elias Aydi and remain pending peer review, with further early imaging needed to assess how common these behaviors are.