V838 Her - Nova Her 1991

 

V838 Her is unique in that it is the fastest Nova on record (t3=2.8d).  Unfortunately for me the Nova's appearance coincided with a cloudy spell, which resulted in very few data points on the light curve.  The discovery of Nova Her 1991 was simply remarkable.  The Nova was discovered by English amateur the late George Alcock on the morning of March 25th 1991 at magnitude 5, using 10x50 binoculars through a glass window in early morning twilight!  Surely the most wonderful observation ever made by an amateur astronomer in modern times!