COMMISSION 27 OF THE I. A. U.
         INFORMATION BULLETIN ON VARIABLE STARS
                      NUMBER 540

                                Konkoly Observatory
                                Budapest
                                1971 April 19




         PHOTOGRAPHIC OBSERVATIONS OF NOVA IN L.M.C.


       A nova in the Large Magellanic Cloud was reported
by J.A. Graham in IAUC 2305 and 2307. The following photographic 
magnitudes have been communicated by A. Gilmore,
Carter Observatory, Wellington.


-----------------------------
1971     U.T.       Ptg.Mag.
-----------------------------
Feb.    7   15h53m   12.8
        8   10 09    12.9
       11   13 29    13.3
       16   11 09    13.0
       17   12 11    13.2
Mar.    8   08 57    14.5
-----------------------------



Times are those of the middle of thirty minute exposures
and the magnitudes are +0.4 mag.
       The magnitudes were obtained by comparing the nova
with stars on a plate of the Royal Greenwich Observatory
Variable Field 1. From plates of this field and the nova
taken on 1971 Feb. 11, photographic magnitudes were derived
for two nearby stars: CPD -68d 299 and the brighter star of
the pair 1 arcmin north of the nova. Derived values were
respectively 10.94 (RMS error 0.21 m in 5 comparisons) and
13.77 (RMS error 0.23 in 10 comparisons).
      Similar comparisons of the other plates with V.S.
Field 1 were made, deriving a correction for each plate
from the deduced magnitudes of the two reference stars, This
combined several errors and gave the RMS error of 0.4 mag
for the values of the nova given above.
       As part of a regular survey programme, B. Ward,
Tirau, N.Z, had photographed the L.M.C. on 1971 January 18.
The nova was invisible on his negative and certainly fainter
than magnitude 12.0.

1971 April 12.



V. S. S., RASNZ,
18 Pooles Road,
Greerton,                             FRANK M. BATESON
Tauranga, New Zealand.