ar X iv : a st ro - p h / 96 04 17 7 v 2 7 M ay 1 99 6 The MACHO Project LMC Variable Star Inventory : IV . New R Coronae Borealis Stars

We report the discovery of two new R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) using the MACHO project photometry database. The identification of both stars has been confirmed spectroscopically. One is a cool RCB star (T ef f ∼ 5000 K) characterized by very strong Swan bands of C 2 and violet bands of CN, and weak or absent Balmer lines, G-band and 12 C 13 C bands. The second star is an example of a hot RCB star of which only 3 were previously known to exist in the Galaxy and none in the LMC. Its spectrum is characterized by several C II lines in emission. Both stars have shown deep declines of ∆V ≥ 4 mag in brightness. The new stars are significantly fainter at maximum light than the three previously known LMC RCB stars. The amount of reddening toward these stars is somewhat uncertain but both seem to have absolute magnitudes, M V , about half a magnitude fainter than the other three stars. Estimates of M Bol find that the hot RCB star lies in the range of the other three stars while the cool RCB star is fainter. The two cool LMC RCB stars are the faintest at M Bol. The discovery of these two new stars brings to five the number of known RCB stars in the LMC and demonstrates the utility of the MACHO photometric database for the discovery of new RCB stars. – 4 –