COMMISSION 27 AND 42 OF THE IAU INFORMATION BULLETIN ON VARIABLE STARS Number 3827 Konkoly Observatory Budapest 11 January 1993 HU ISSN 0374 - 0676 NEW VARIABLE IN PERSEUS During the analysis of results from photometric monitoring of members of the Alpha Persei cluster, a new variable star has been found. Located near the cluster member AP125 (Prosser 1991, 1992), the new variable was initially chosen as a comparison star to AP125. The variable's position is approximately; RA=03h16m4.6s, DEC=+49d56'3" (1950). The variable's magnitude is approximately V=~11.4. The accompanying finding chart (north at top, east at left) in Figure 1 is approximately 6.5 arcminutes on a side and identifies the variable (labeled 'A'), AP125, and two other comparison stars, B and C. A check of the GCVS and NSV catalogs did not reveal a previous known variable at the position of star A. Table 1 provides a listing of the relative V magnitudes between the variable A and the two comparison stars, B & C. Observations at 22.87751, 32.71216, 32.76481, 32.76612, and 32.85307 are considered to be less accurate due to near-saturation counts for the variable A. The CCD photometry was obtained with the Whipple Observatory 48-inch telescope on Mt. Hopkins, Arizona during late October, early November 1992. Period analysis was performed in the same manner as described in Prosser, Schild, Stauffer and Jones (1993). A period of approximately 21.6 hours was found with a minimum occuring near JD= 448927.937. Comparison star C may also be variable at the level of a few hundredths of a magnitude. Figure 2 illustrates the resulting light curve for the new variable, which may be an eclipsing binary system. The new variable was not surveyed in the proper motion study of Heckmann, Dieckvoss, and Kox (1956), nor was it recovered as a candidate Alpha Persei cluster member in Prosser (1991, 1992). It may have been rejected for consideration by Prosser however due to poor measurements on the Palomar Schmidt plates because of image blending from neighboring stars. It is currently unknown therefore whether the variable 'A' is or is not a member of the Alpha Persei open cluster. Table 1. Relative Photometry JD-2448900.0 A-B A-C B-C JD-2448900.0 A-B A-C B-C 22.74287 -0.737 -0.881 -0.144 29.75503 -0.452 -0.600 -0.148 22.77038 -0.746 -0.897 -0.151 29.78906 -0.483 -0.620 -0.137 22.77309 -0.746 -0.903 -0.157 29.81661 -0.541 -0.692 -0.151 22.81929 -0.755 -0.897 -0.142 29.84480 -0.623 -0.787 -0.164 22.87751 -0.767 -0.906 -0.139 29.87854 -0.690 -0.840 -0.150 22.87851 -0.768 -0.908 -0.140 29.95160 -0.728 -0.891 -0.163 22.91691 -0.767 -0.889 -0.122 29.98456 -0.736 -0.879 -0.143 22.95326 -0.761 -0.901 -0.140 30.00782 -0.735 -0.898 -0.163 22.95444 -0.767 -0.898 -0.131 30.74444 -0.572 -0.697 -0.125 27.60112 -0.759 -0.914 -0.155 30.87095 -0.731 -0.861 -0.130 27.60280 -0.757 -0.919 -0.162 30.94438 -0.746 -0.898 -0.152 27.66138 -0.743 -0.915 -0.172 30.96763 -0.735 -0.883 -0.148 27.68909 -0.741 -0.882 -0.141 30.97064 -0.749 -0.889 -0.140 27.71890 -0.740 -0.889 -0.149 31.02223 -0.760 -0.902 -0.142 27.74883 -0.730 -0.879 -0.149 32.63892 -0.715 -0.878 -0.163 27.78912 -0.720 -0.868 -0.148 32.66943 -0.719 -0.877 -0.158 27.89100 -0.544 -0.700 -0.156 32.71216 -0.723 -0.859 -0.136 27.89508 -0.531 -0.687 -0.156 32.71343 -0.729 -0.863 -0.134 27.95716 -0.462 -0.603 -0.141 32.76481 -0.741 -0.886 -0.145 28.64343 -0.729 -0.892 -0.163 32.85307 -0.746 -0.911 -0.165 28.81252 -0.472 -0.596 -0.124 32.85448 -0.754 -0.922 -0.168 29.00296 -0.720 -0.891 -0.171 32.92785 -0.763 -0.900 -0.137 29.68399 -0.608 -0.745 -0.137 33.01792 -0.762 -0.916 -0.154 [FIGURE 1] [FIGURE 2] Charles F. Prosser Center for Astrophysics 60 Garden St. MS-66 Cambridge, MA 02138 USA email: prosser@cfa0.harvard.edu References: General Catalog of Variable Stars (GCVS), 4th edition, Kholopov, P.N. editor, "Nauka". 1985. Heckmann, V.O., Dieckvoss, W., and Kox, H. 1956, ANac, 283, 109. New Catalogue of Suspected Variable Stars (NSV), Kholopov, P.N. editor, "Nauka",1982. Prosser, C.F. 1991, Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA. [BIBCODE 1991PhDT........48P ] Prosser, C.F. 1992, AJ 103, 488. [BIBCODE 1992AJ....103..488P ] Prosser, C.F., Schild, R.E., Stauffer, J.R., and Jones, B.F. 1992, to appear in Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific, March 1993. [BIBCODE 1993PASP..105..269P ]