COMMISSION 27 OF THE I. A. U.
           INFORMATION BULLETIN ON VARIABLE STARS
                       Number 2267


                                                  Konkoly Observatory
                                                  Budapest
                                                  1983 January 12

                                                  HU ISSN 0374-0676


                        VY AQUARII


  According to Mc Naught (1982) this erupting star (1907, 1962) appeared
to have been in outburst in 1973. The outburst could be confirmed by Wenzel
(1983).

  By investigating 1066 sky patrol plates (from 1928 to 1982) of the fields
21h0deg, 21h - 4deg, and 21h - 18deg taken by H. Huth and predecessors I found
the brightness decline of an outburst in 1958.
  The plates used to obtain the lightcurves during the two additional 
outbursts given below include some with the object far out of the centre. Dots
are from blue plates, circles from red plates. The extrapolated maxima of the


                               [FIGURE 1]


outbursts appear to have occured around 1958 June 25...June 30 and 1973 July,
20. The blue colour near maximum light seems to indicate that there is no
strong H alpha emission typical for nova spectra. Instead, the blue colour
resembles U Geminorum stars.

  Altogether there have been observed 4 outbursts in a period of 55 years.
The probability that a further outburst was overlooked due to bad weather or
moonlight is below 50%. As our sky patrol could watch this part of the sky
only in the season from June to November, for this object the total number of
outbursts in this 55-year period may be about 8 to 10 corresponding to a mean
cycle length of about 5 to 7 years. This comparatively short cycle length and
the presumable absence of strong H alpha emission near maximum light seem to
indicate that VY Aquarii is a dwarf nova which resembles WZ Sagittae rather
than a recurrent nova.
  This object should be watched for the next brightness maximum in order to
allow spectroscopic investigations during the time of the maximum and the
whole course of the decline.





            G.A. RICHTER

            Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR
            Zentralinstitut fur Astrophysik
            Sternwarte Sonneberg





References:

Mc Naught, R.H., 1982, I.B.V.S. No. 2232
Wenzel, W., 1983, I.B.V.S. No. 2261