COMMISSION 27 OF THE I. A. U.
       INFORMATION BULLETIN ON VARIABLE STARS
                    NUMBER 478

                            Konkoly Observatory
                            Budapest
                            1970 October 27



           POSSIBLE FLARE STAR NEAR M31

     In a recent note Sharov and Alksnis (1970) have
drawn attention to a possible nova (their No. 5) at a
distance of 169' from the nucleus of M31. From a single observation 
on August 20 1969 they obtain _B = 17.6 for this
star. This observation is of particular interest because no
other object associated with the Andromeda Nebula has ever
been found at such a great distance from the nucleus of
M31. Inspection of plates obtained with the 48-inch (126 cm)
Schmidt telescope on Palomar Mountain shows a faint red
star at the position of the object reported by Sharov and
Alksnis. From a comparison with Arp's photoelectric sequence
in M31 Field IV (Baade and Swope 1963) this star is found
to have _V = 19.2 and _B-_V = 1.6. These data suggest the possibility 
that Sharov and Alksnis may have observed a flare
of an M dwarf star on Aug. 20 1969.

      Inspection of this star on 43 Palomar Schmidt plates
obtained between 1965 and 1970 shows no other major flares
during a total exposure time of 1004 min. A single observation 
of marginal quality indicates that a small flare,
during which the star brightened to _B = 20.1 may have occurred 
on Dec. 22 1968.


                     SIDNEY VAN DEN BERGH

                    David Dunlap Observatory
                     University of Toronto
                  Richmond Hill, Ontario, CANADA





                  References


Baade, W., and Swope, H.H. 1983, Astron. J. 68, 435. [BIBCODE 1963AJ.....68..435B ]
Sharov, A.S., and Alksnis, A.K. 1970, Astron. Circ. USSR
     No.560. [BIBCODE 1970ATsir.560....1S ]