COMMISSION 27 OF THE I. A. U.
          INFORMATION BULLETIN ON VARIABLE STARS
                      Number 2871

                                        Konkoly Observatory
                                        Budapest
                                        26 February 1986

                                        HU ISSN 0374 - 0676



             SPECTROSCOPY OF NOVA SCORPII 1985



   Following the discovery on 24 September 1985 of this nova by one of us
(W.L.), the other author (T.R.) was able to obtain spectrograms on 3 succesive
nights: 7, 8, and 9 October, using the ESO 1.52 m telescope equipped with an
image dissector scanner.
   A reproduction of one of the spectrograms taken on the middle night is
shown in Figure 1. The scale of the ordinate is in units of relative intensity;
no appreciable changes can be seen over the span of three nights.
   The average intensity ratio Hbeta/Hgamma over the three nights is 4.0+-0.1,
indicating considerable interstellar extinction. (The unreddened value should
be close to 2.15). We calculate that E(B-V)=1.3, and combining this value    

                            [FIGURE 1]



with the apparent magnitude at discovery of 10.5 (Liller, 1985) and assuming
that the absolute magnitude of the nova was -7.5 at time of discovery, we
derive a distance of 6.3 kpc.
  Other prominent lines in the spectra are [OIII] at 4959, 5007 A, and
numerous [Fe II] lines between 5100 and 5400 A. Other lines include Ca II at
3933 and 3969 A, Hdelta, [OI] at 5577 A, and the NaI D-lines.
  An objective prism photograph taken by W.L. on 5 October (which was used
to confirm that the star was indeed a nova) shows Halpha strongly; no continuum
is apparent.



                           TOM RICHTLER

                         Observatorium Hoher List
                         BRD-5568 Daun/Eifel


                           WILLIAM LILLER

                         Instituto Isaac Newton
                         Casilla 8-9, Correo 9
                         Santiago, Chile




Reference:
Liller, W., 1985, IAU Circ., No. 4118. [BIBCODE 1985IAUC.4118....1L ]