Overview
- The peer-reviewed study in Nature Astronomy reports the first spatially resolved views of the 2021 novae V1674 Herculis and V1405 Cassiopeiae captured within days using the CHARA Array.
- V1674 Herculis showed two perpendicular outflows just 2–3 days after discovery, with their interaction coinciding with Fermi gamma rays that indicate shock formation.
- V1405 Cassiopeiae delayed the bulk ejection of its envelope for more than 50 days before a late release produced fresh shocks and renewed high-energy emission.
- Spectroscopic data from major facilities including Gemini tracked evolving gas signatures that matched the structures seen in the images, reinforcing the flow-and-collision picture.
- The results overturn the simple single-impulse model for nova mass loss and sharpen models of envelope ejection and particle acceleration, with an arXiv preprint posted December 8.