Nova Herculis 2021, also known V1674 Herculis, was a nova in the constellation Hercules. It reached a peak brightness of magnitude 6.0, making it visible to the naked eye under ideal observing conditions. It was discovered on June 12, 2021, by Seiji Ueda of Kushiro Japan, just hours before it obtained peak brightness. The discovery images were taken with a Canon EOS 6D digital camera with a 200 mm lens, when the nova was at magnitude 8.4.[6] Subsequent analysis of ASAS-SN data showed the star had a magnitude of 16.62 (g band) 8.4 hours before it was discovered.[2] Of the galactic novae for which detailed light curves are available, Nova Herculis 2021 had the fastest decline from peak brightness ever seen.[5] This nova has been detected throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio to gamma rays.[7]
 A visual band light curve for Nova Herculis 2021, plotted from AAVSO data.[1] The green point in the lower left corner shows the pre-discovery ASAS-SN data point.[2] The inset plot shows the time of peak brightness. | |
| Observation data Epoch J2000.0 Equinox J2000.0 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Hecules |
| Right ascension | 18h 57m 30.98s[3] |
| Declination | +16° 53′ 39.6″[3] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 6.0 - <20.5 (g band)[4] |
| Astrometry | |
| Distance | ~4,750[5] pc |
| Characteristics | |
| Variable type | Nova |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
All novae are binary stars, consisting of a white dwarf orbited by a mass-losing "donor star". Photometric observations taken during June, July and August 2021 found that binary pair's orbital period is 3.670416 ± 0.0008 hours.[3] The Zwicky Transient Facility had been observing the region of the sky containing Nova Herculis 2021 since March 2018, and analysis of that data yielded a spin period of 8.357 minutes for the white dwarf.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Download Data". aavso.org. AAVSO. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ a b Aydi, E.; Sokolovsky, K. V.; Chomiuk, L.; Strader, J.; Kawash, A.; Page, K. L.; Boussin, C.; Ikonnikova, N.; Atapin, K. E.; Belinski, A. A.; Burlak, M. A.; Dodin, A. V.; Maslennikova, N. A.; Postnov, K. A.; Potanin, S. A.; Safonov, B. S.; Shatsky, N. I.; Tatarnikov, A. M.; Korotkiy, S.; Stanek, K. Z.; Kochanek, C. S.; Shappee, B. J. (June 2021). "Multi-wavelength follow up of the very fast Nova Herculis 2021 (TCP J18573095+1653396)". The Astronomer's Telegram. 14710: 1. Bibcode:2021ATel14710....1A.
- ^ a b c Schmidt, R. E.; Shugarov, S. Y.; Afonina, M. D. (December 2021). "The Photometric Period of V1674 Herculis (Nova Her 2021)". The Journal of the American Association of Variable Star Observers. 49 (2): 257. Bibcode:2021JAVSO..49..257S.
- ^ "V1674 Her". The International Variable Star Index. AAVSO. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ^ a b Woodward, C. E.; Banerjee, D. P. K.; Geballe, T. R.; Page, K. L.; Starrfield, S.; Wagner, R. M. (November 2021). "Near-infrared Studies of Nova V1674 Herculis: A Shocking Record Breaker". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 922 (1): L10. arXiv:2110.13053. Bibcode:2021ApJ...922L..10W. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ac3518. S2CID 239769198.
- ^ "CBAT "Transient Object Followup Reports"". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. Harvard University. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
- ^ Drake, Jeremy J.; Ness, Jan-Uwe; Page, Kim L.; Luna, G. J. M.; Beardmore, Andrew P.; Orio, Marina; Osborne, Julian P.; Mróz, Przemek; Starrfield, Sumner; Banerjee, Dipankar P. K.; Balman, Solen; Darnley, M. J.; Bhargava, Y.; Dewangan, G. C.; Singh, K. P. (December 2021). "The Remarkable Spin-down and Ultrafast Outflows of the Highly Pulsed Supersoft Source of Nova Herculis 2021". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 922 (2): L42. arXiv:2110.14058. Bibcode:2021ApJ...922L..42D. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ac34fd. S2CID 239998563.
- ^ Mroz, P.; Burdge, K.; van Roestel, J.; Prince, T.; Kong, A. K. H.; Li, K. L. (June 2021). "An 8.4 min period in the archival ZTF light curve of Nova Herculis 2021". The Astronomer's Telegram. 14720: 1. Bibcode:2021ATel14720....1M.