I have 1.0-m V- and I-band images from 1994 of M46 that I can recover from archive if necessary. The star appears bright on Nachshony's image because (a) the Mira was probably near maximum, and (b) they were observing unfiltered. Since the star is M6-M9, it is very red and will appear quite bright on unfiltered images in comparison to, say, the DSS/RealSky image. Unfiltered observers often run across these 'unusually bright' objects which are just an artifact of their CCD red response. When you think you have discovered a new variable, do the following: (a) determine its coordinates. You can often do this from the USNO-A finding chart program with a narrow field of view. http://vsnet.nofs.navy.mil/data/FchPix/cfra2.html (b) check Simbad to see if it is a known variable. http://simbad.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/WSimbad.pl (c) check 2MASS or IRAS to see if it is a very red object (they are almost always variable). http://vsnet.ipac.caltech.edu/2mass/ (d) check the asteroid location sites to see if it is just a known asteroid. http://cfaps8.harvard.edu/~cgi/CheckSN.COM (e) check the scanned photographic plate archives to see its history, or at least its relative color. http://vsnet.nofs.navy.mil/data/FchPix/cfra2.html (f) then contact organizations like vsnet or aavso, but be polite and not post with a 'VERY IMPORTANT' subject line. Taichi, it would be useful for you to put an article on how to determine whether you have a new variable and how to report it on your vsnet web page in a prominent position. Arne -------------------------------------------------------------------- Arne Henden Instruments/software/CCDs US Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station Cepheids/photometry/IR P.O. Box 1149 http://ftp.nofs.navy.mil Flagstaff, AZ 86002-1149 Voice: (520)779-5132 aah@nofs.navy.mil FAX: (520)774-3626