HW Tau is one of the 'cataclysmic variables' that I identified last year as minor planets. Here is the complete list (full details will hopefully be published soon): V1548 Oph = (336) Lacadiera: 1959 July 27 The date given in Duerbeck's nova catalog (1959 June 27) appears to be erroneous. For this object I have not yet received a copy of the discovery announcement publication and copies of the two plates on which 'V1548 Oph' is reported to be visible. HW Tau = (49) Pales: 1939 Oct. 22.07 and 23.01 UT Identification confirmed on plate copies supplied by Nikolai Samus. CV Aqr = (52) Europa: 1931 June 12 etc Identification confirmed by Martha Hazen on Harvard plates. GT Com = (679) Pax: 1972 May 12.14 UT Identification confirmed by Nikolai Samus on MMO plates. V421 Tau = (586) Thekla: 1968 Oct. 20.93-21.14 UT Identification confirmed on Sonneberg plate copies supplied by Peter Kroll. Already found several years ago: TU Leo = (8) Flora: 1917 Mar. 25.79 UT cf. IAUC 6174 and Astron. Astrophys. 312, 496 (1996) Patrick Schmeer