2021RNAAS...5..160Q

We report high-cadence photometry of the ultra-fast (t₂ ∼ 1.2 days) nova V1674 Her during its rise to maximum light (V ∼ 6.3) and the beginning of its subsequent decline. These observations from Evryscope and the Mount Laguna Observatory All-Sky Camera reveal a plateau in the pre-maximum light curve at g ∼ 14 (∼8 mag below peak) that lasted for at least three hours. Similar features (so-called pre-maximum halts) have been observed in some novae near maximum light, but to our knowledge the detection of a plateau in the light curve ∼8 mag below peak is unprecedented.