It reached a peak magnitude of 4.6 one and a half days later, making it easily visible to the naked eye.

[3] Near the end of 1986, and early in 1987, its light curve showed a sharp drop in brightness, caused by the formation of dust.

[5] An expanding nebula has been detected around V842 Centauri, formed by material ejected during the nova.

V842 Centauri was then classified as an intermediate polar, with the third fastest rotation period for a cataclismic system.

[5][2] In 1995, observations with the 3.9 meter Anglo-Australian Telescope detected a very small (~1.5 arc second diameter) nova remnant shell surrounding V842 Centauri.