"The images give us a close-up view of how material is ejected away from the star during the explosion,"
"Catching these transient events requires flexibility to adapt our night-time schedule as new targets of opportunity are discovered."
CHARA Array used near-infrared interferometry to combine light from multiple telescopes and capture high-resolution images of the early post-explosion phases of two novae detected in 2021. Observations resolved the small, rapidly evolving ejecta that were previously inferred only indirectly. V1674 Herculis reached peak brightness within 16 hours and faded over days; V1405 Cassiopeiae reached peak in 53 days and remained bright about 200 days. Images of V1674 taken days after discovery reveal non-spherical structure with two ejecta flows to the northwest and southeast and an elliptical feature nearly perpendicular to them, demonstrating interacting multiple ejecta components.
Read at WIRED
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