COMMISSION 27 OF THE I. A. U.
        INFORMATION BULLETIN ON VARIABLE STARS
                    Number 2360

                                 Konkoly Observatory
                                 Budapest
                                 27 June 1983

                                 HU ISSN 0374-0676



       ONCE AGAIN: NGC 2346 - NO "ECLIPSES" BEFORE 1982


  The central star of the planetary nebula NGC 2346 has been much observed
and discussed in the last time because of its drastic light variations 
occuring

                 Table I
-------------------------------------
Date             J.D. minus    m_pg
                 2440000      
-------------------------------------
1981 Jan.   23   4628.304       11.3m
            26   4631.369       11.3
            28   4633.398       11.4
            29   4634.391       11.4
            30   4635.378       11.3
            31   4636.400       11.3
     Feb.    1   4637.378       11.0
             1   4637.422       10.9
             2   4638.379       11.0
            26   4662.349       11.1
     March  27   4691.345       11.4
            29   4693.327       11.1
     Apr.    1   4696.333       11.0
             6   4701.326       11.1
             7   4702.326       11.1
     Dec.   28   4967.430       11.1
1982 Jan.   14   4984.349       11.3
            15   4985.368       11.3
     Feb.   19   5020.334       11.2
            20   5021.349       11.5
            21   5022.362       12.5
     March  15   5044.348       12.4
            16   5045.327       12.6
            19   5048.254       11.7
            23   5052.308       11.8
            24   5053.317       12.3
            27   5056.347   fainter than 13.3(comp. star e)
     Apr.   22   5082.350       11.1
     Sep.   25   5238.615       12.7
     Oct.   25   5268.547       13.0
1983 Feb.   18   5384.310   fainter than 13.3
            18   5384.346   fainter than 13.3
     March   3   5397.344   fainter than 13.3
             9   5403.323       12.9
            12   5406.344   fainter than 13.3
            13   5407.347   fainter than 13.3
----------------------------------------------

since 1982. In I.B.V.S. No. 2281 Schaefer reports on the search for early
eclipses on old photographic plates of Harvard College Observatory, with 
negative results.
  I repeated this sort of examination on a much larger number of Sonneberg
Sky Patrol plates and checked the star on 680 exposures taken between 1928
and 1983. The brightness of the comparison stars were taken from Kohoutek
(I.B.V.S. No. 2113). My observations confirm the findings of Schaefer: The
star does not show large variability before 1982.
  Only rather small, obviously irregular, changes in brightness with an
amplitude below 1 mag are observed around a mean magnitude of about 11.1m pg.
  The determination of the brightness was, of course, disturbed by the
surrounding planetary nebula, Therefore the mean error is +-0.3 mag and may
be even larger for magnitudes below 12.0m.
  Table I gives a sample of my observations on our plates.





                   R. LUTHARDT

             Sonneberg Observatory
             Central Institute for Astrophysics
             Academy of Sciences of G.D.R.