------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 870 1994 Aug 5 19.42UT Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise, Basingstoke, Hants, RG22 4PP,England. Telephone/FAX(0256)471074 Int:+44256471074 INTERNET: GMH at AST.STAR.RL.AC.UK or GMH at GXVG.AST.CAM.AC.UK ------------------------------------------------------------------- X-RAY NOVA IN SCORPIUS S. N. Zhang, C. A. Wilson, B. A. Harmon, G. J. Fishman, R. B. Wilson, W. S. Paciesas, M. Scott, and B. C. Rubin report for the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory BATSE team: "An x-ray nova has been observed at R.A. = 16h55m, Decl. = -40o.5 (equinox 2000.0; error radius 0o.3). The source (GRO J1655-40) first appeared in data from July 27 and has increased to its present level of about 1.1 Crab (20-100 keV) on Aug. 1. Significant flux is observed to 200 keV. A power law with a spectral index of -3.15 +/- 0.07 fits the data well from 20 to 200 keV. Pulsed emission is not seen in the period range from 3 to 300 s at a limiting sensitivity of about 10 percent of the steady flux. No previously-cataloged x-ray source is known at this location. It has also been determined that the nearby x-ray pulsar OAO 1657-415, currently observed by BATSE, is not responsible for the observed emission." IAUC 6046 Editor: A search for a possible optical counterpart by photography or CCD imaging based on the above positional data would be useful. Guy M Hurst