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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 871 1994 Aug 13 08.00 UT
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
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X-RAY NOVA IN SCORPIUS (c.f. EC 870)
C. Bailyn, S. Jogee, and J. Orosz, Department of Astronomy,
Yale University, report: "CCD imaging of the field of GRO J1655-40
(IAUC 6046) with the Cerro Tololo 0.9-m telescope (+ 2048 Tek CCD)
has revealed a candidate optical counterpart for the high-energy
nova. The optical nova is located at R.A. = 16h54m00s, Decl. =
-39o50'44" (equinox 2000.0; +/- 2"); its magnitude and colors on
Aug. 11.038 UT were V = 14.2, B-V = +1.1, V-R = +0.8, R-I = +0.7
(+/- 0.1 mag). The digitized U.K. Schmidt Sky Survey shows only an
object of V about 18 at this location. This object may be a near
neighbor of the nova that is visible on the CCD images (and not
associated with the quiescent nova). The red color of the nova
suggests that, if it is associated with GRO J1655-40, it is signif-
icantly absorbed.
IAUC 6050
NEW VARIABLE STAR IN SAGITTARIUS
H. Sato, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, has
reported the discovery of what was termed a possible nova by Yukio
Sakurai (Mito, Japan) on Fuji SG400 film at the following position:
R.A. = 17h56m35s.54, Decl. = -25o13'15".7 (equinox 1950.0); giving
the following magnitude estimates: May 20 UT, [12.5; June 17,
[11.5; July 3, [11:; 28.520, 11.4; Aug. 8.548, 11.4. Further
observations suggest that the object is evidently a Mira-type or
symbiotic star undergoing an outburst: T. Beers (Michigan State
University), W. Brandner and T. Lehmann (European Southern
Observatory = ESO), and H. W. Duerbeck (Astronomical Institute
Munster) report that a spectrogram (range 360-495 nm), taken on Aug.
10.084 with the ESO 1.52-m telescope, shows strong, narrow (FWHM