COMMISSION 27 OF THE I.A.U.
              INFORMATION BULLETIN ON VARIABLE STARS
                           Number 1406

                                                     Konkoly Observatory
                                                     Budapest
                                                     1978 April 3


                A RED VARIABLE IN CIRCINUS

During a search for objects showing H-alpha line-emission a
rather bright spectrum was found on an objective prism plate
which corresponded to a faint star in the finding chart obtained
from a direct plate taken at another epoch.
   Since the star was not listed by Kukarkin et al. (1972) we
decided to check its variability measuring with an iris photometer
several B and V plates obtained by J.C. Muzzio from CTIO in May
1974 and April 1975. The star did not appear in U plates obtained
in the same epochs and its ultraviolet magnitude was estimated
fainter than 17.2 mag.
   The 1950 coordinates are:

          R.A = 15h11m.7  Decl. = -58d57'

and its position is shown in the charts.
   The small scale chart was obtained from one of our visual
plates and its size is about 10' x 20'. The large scale chart is
a drawing from the screen of the iris photometer and its size is
about 3' x 3'. In both cases North is above and West to the right.
   Also shown in the large scale chart are the comparison stars
used, whose adopted magnitudes are:


                Star    V     B-V

                 a    12.51   0.64
                 b    13.99   1.19
                 c    14.59   1.05
                 d    15.21   1.03
                 e    15.30   1.40
                 f    15.40   1.18
                 g    15.64   1.20

   These values were determined photographically extrapolating
a photoelectric sequence which reached only V=13.66 and B=15.51.
They may be thus affected by systematic errors but, nevertheless,
they are useful to derive the light changes of the variable star.
The observed magnitudes of the variable star are:


Heliocentric J.D.     V       Heliocentric J.D.     B

2442191.6343        15.00     2442191.7126        16.68
   2191.7443        14.94        2191.7269        16.74
   2194.7409        14.72        2194.7724        16.52
   2194.7544        14.66        2507.7049        17.16
   2507.7167        15.66        2509.8400        17.37
   2508.8666        15.72
   2509.7662        15.60

   We also derived red magnitudes for the comparison stars with
the formula

                  R=V-0.5(B-V)

and estimated visually the brightness of the variable on our H-alpha
objective prism plates. On the July 1976 plate (J.D. 2442980.4871)
neither the continuum nor the emission can be seen and the star
should have been fainter than R=14.1 mag. On all the plates 
obtained in April 1977 (J.D. between 2443250.6719 and 2443261.7907)
the continuum is fairly bright and the estimated magnitude is
about R=12.1 mag; also H-alpha emission can be seen in four of the
plates where the spectra are properly exposed while in the other
two plates the spectra were overexposed.
   All these values suggest a rather long period variation with
an amplitude of at least 2 mag. in the red. Considering also the
very red colour and that H-alpha emission is present on the April
1977 plates (when the star was much brighter than on the July 1976
plate) this star is almost surely a long period variable.
   We are grateful to the authorities, staff members and night
assistants of CTIO for their hospitality and help and to Dr. H.G.
Marraco for the use of the July 1976 objective prism plate.


                   ANA M. ORSATTI * and J.C. MUZZIO **

                Observatorio Astronomico, Universidad Nacional
                de La Plata, 1900 La Plata, Argentina



Reference:

Kukarkin, B.V. et al.: 1972, Special Supplement to the Third 
   Edition of the General Catalogue of Variable Stars, Moscow


*  Visiting astronomer, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory,
   supported by the National Science Foundation under contract
   No. NSF-C866.
** Member of the Carrera del Investigador Cientifico del Consejo
   Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas de la 
   Republica Argentina.

                      [FIGURE 1]