Studies of the Large Magellanic Cloud. III the Globular Cluster NGC 1978.

The color-magnitude diagram for the brightest stars of the cluster NGC 1978 indicates that it is similar to NGC 1846, another cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The slope of the giant branch is gentle, suggesting a relatively high metals abundance. The giant branch is uniformly 0.3 inag. fainter than that of NGC 1846 but is slightly brighter than that of NGC 361, in the Small Magellanic Cloud. A variable star which is probably a member of the cluster may be a W Virginis star with a period of about 20 days.