Circular No. 6967
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions)
BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science)
URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html
Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only)


GRB 980703
     M. R. Zapatero Osorio, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias
(IAC); A. Castro-Tirado and J. Gorosabel, Laboratorio de
Astrofisica Espacial y Fisica Fundamental; A. Oscoz and S. Kemp,
IAC; and F. Frontera and L. Nicastro, on behalf of the BeppoSAX
team, report:  "Images in the R band have been obtained at the
0.8-m IAC80 telescope at Teide Observatory on July 4 and 6 of the
field including the BeppoSAX error box for the x-ray source 1SAX
J2359.1+0835 (cf. GCN 127) that is presumably related to GRB 980703,
which was detected by both BATSE and RXTE.  These data reveal an
object located at R.A. = 23h59m06s.7, Decl. = +8o35'07" (equinox
2000.0; +/- 2"), which has faded by about 1.5 mag at this
wavelength.  A preliminary photometric analysis yields R = 20.6 +/-
0.1 on July 4.123 UT and 22.1 +/- 0.2 on July 6.137.  No other
objects varying by > 0.2 mag are seen down to a limiting magnitude
of R = 22.5.  A finder chart is available via anonymous ftp to
ftp.ll.iac.es (cd publong/grb980703/)."


CH CYGNI
     M. Mikolajewski, Center for Astronomy, Torun; and L. Leedjarv,
Tartu Observatory, communicate:  "A new outburst of the symbiotic
star CH Cyg seems to have begun.  Photoelectric UBVRI (Johnson)
observations on the Torun observatory 0.6-m telescope show
significant development of the hot continuum since mid-May:  May
15.87 UT, U = 10.84, B = 10.46, V = 8.69, R = 5.04, I = 2.40;
19.99, 10.58, 10.39, 8.67, 5.09, 2.42; June 4.02, 9.91, 10.03,
8.54, 5.20, 2.63; 27.91, 9.22, 9.58, 8.42, 5.31, 2.82; July 3.01,
8.95, 9.32, 8.23, 5.33, 2.87.  During three nights (June 21, 27,
28), about 3 hr of observing on each night have revealed flickering
on a timescale of 5-15 min, with amplitudes of about 0.50-0.40,
0.40-0.30, 0.25-0.20, and 0.08-0.06 magnitude in U, B, V, and R,
respectively.  Spectra obtained on the 1.5-m telescope of Tartu
Observatory on June 27.91 show remarkable strengthening of the
emission lines.  H-alpha and other Balmer lines show a double-
peaked profile, with a separation of peaks of about 100 km/s and
with the violet peak stronger than the red one.  Strong emission
lines of He I (388.9, 402.6, 447.1 nm) and Fe II have become
visible.  Forbidden emission lines of [Ne III] (386.8 nm), [S II]
(406.8 nm), [O III] (500.7 nm), and [Fe II] (many) have remained
strong, while those of [N II] (654.8 and 658.3 nm) have become
considerably weaker."

                      (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT
1998 July 7                    (6967)            Daniel W. E. Green