COMMISSION 27 OF THE I. A. U.
         INFORMATION BULLETIN ON VARIABLE STARS
                     Number 2440

                                     Konkoly Observatory
                                     Budapest
                                     5 December 1983

                                     HU ISSN 0374-0676





          V3876 Sgr, A MIRA STAR, NOT A NOVA


    Khatisashvili (1982) gives an accurate position and
finding chart for V3876 Sgr, identifying the object as Nova
Sgr 1978. The finding chart and position agree with, and
improve upon, those given by Hoffleit (1972) and Hatfield
(1972) for the object which received the designation V3876 Sgr
in the 60th Name-list (Kukarkin et al 1975) and the third
supplement to the third edition of the General Catalogue of
Variable Stars (Kukarkin et al. 1976). That variable, however, 
which had been discovered at the Maria Mitchell Observatory 
in 1971 by Pamela Bonnell (Hoffleit 1972), is classified
(Kukarkin 1976, based on Hoffleit 1972) not as a nova but as a
Mira star.
    My assistants and I have inspected some 250 plates of the
field at the Maria Mitchell Observatory, taken in 1969-1983,
to search for nova activity in the vicinity. We find only
typical long-period variations of the Mira star, consistent
with slightly changed elements.
    The last well-observed maximum was at JD 2441484+-5d
E = 13 according to the published elements

       JD_max = 2436830 + 358 E

which were valid for the interval, JD 2436000-41500.
    Since then we have caught only an increasingly small part
of the descending branch. The little that we see is better
represented by

       JD_max = 2441484 + 352 E

for the interval 2441400 to the present. This is a return
toward the shorter period, 345d, which had been found to
satisfy the observations in JD 2423900-32000.
   The only 1978 Nova in Sagittarius of which I am aware is
about 8d south of V3876. It was discovered on an objective
prism plate taken in March, 1978 (Stenholm and Lundstrom
1979). It received the designation V4049 Sgr in the 65th
Name-list (Kholopov et al. 1981). A large-scale finding chart
and precise position have been given by McCarthy et al.
(1981).
   I am grateful to EARTHWATCH, of Belmont, Mass., for
support of this project, and to volunteers Robin Spry-Campbell
and Jane E. Fuller for their assistance.





            EMILIA P. BELSERENE
            Maria Mitchell Observatory
            Nantucket, MA 02554 USA








References:
Hatfield, B. 1972. Journ. AAVSO 1, 70. [BIBCODE 1972JAVSO...1...70H ]
Hoffleit, D. 1972. I.B.V.S. No. 729.
Khatisashvili, A. Sh. 1982. Astron. Circ. U.S.S.R. No. 1223, 7. [BIBCODE 1982ATsir1223....7K ]
Kholopov, P.N. et al. 1981. I.B.V.S. No. 1921.
Kukarkin, B.V. et al. 1975. I.B.V.S. No. 961.
Kukarkin, B.V. et al. 1976. Third Sup. Third Ed. General
   Cat. Variable Stars, Moscow. [BIBCODE 1976tstt.book.....K ]
McCarthy S.J., M.F.; Lasker, B.M.; Kinman, T.D. 1981. Pub.
   Astron. Soc. Pacific 93, 470. [BIBCODE 1981PASP...93..470M ]
Stenholm, B.; Lundstrom, I. 1979. IAUC 3411. [BIBCODE 1979IAUC.3411....2S ]