The Early Rise of Nova V1674 Herculis: Unveiling the Secrets of Fast Novae

The paper by Quimby et al. (2024) discusses the early stages of the outburst of Nova V1674 Herculis, a fast nova observed in unprecedented detail from 10 magnitudes below its peak brightness. The authors analyze the nova's rapid rise, which showed three distinct phases: a slow, fast, and faster rise, captured by high-cadence observations from Evryscope. They propose models that explain this rise by the expansion of the white dwarf's outer layers, though some features, such as the rapid transitions, remain unexplained.