COMMISSION 27 OF THE I. A. U.
             INFORMATION BULLETIN ON VARIABLE STARS
                          Number 3604

                                                 Konkoly Observatory
                                                 Budapest
                                                 17 May 1991

                                                 HU ISSN 0374 - 0676


    Foreground Star on the Dumbbell Nebula: New Red Variable


A light variability of a foreground star on the planetary nebula NGC 8853 (M
27) has been established unusually, by the comparison of cover photos of the
Astronomy (1990 May issue) and the Deep Sky (1990 Autumn issue) magazines.  The
star in question (marked with an arrow on an accompanying chart) is bright on
the former and does not appear at all on the later.  A scanning of
miscellaneous literature showed that the star is missing on about forty percent
of Dumbbell nebula's photos published in last decades.  This fact together with
an apparently huge amplitude and a distinct orange colour of the star could
indicate mira type.

An approximate position of the variable star can be determined from a photo
given in the Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulae (1967):  right ascension
19h 57m 01s declination +22d 37.2' (1950.0).


                                [FIGURE 1]



                              LEOS ONDRA
                              Observatory Upice,
                              P.O. Box 8, 542 32 Upice
                              Czechoslovakia

Reference:

Perek, L., Kohoutek, L.: 1967, Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulae,
    Academia, Prague, Pl. 99 [BIBCODE 1967cgpn.book.....P ]