Poor conditions last night with thickening fog and a bright Moon but managed to get an image and (very) low resolution spectrum. Shows the main features of a nova in its early stages…bright continuum with hydrogen emission lines. Results on my members page.
Regarding photometry…you could try a small aperture mask on you main telescope to cut the brightness. I sometimes use a 4 inch or even 2 inch on my 12inch scope for spectroscopy of bright stars for example.
Mike.