The Historical Discovery and Recent Confirmation of a New Cataclysmic Variable in Corvus

During the trans-Saturnian planet search of Lowell Observatory, Tombaugh exposed and studied 362 pairs of plates during the years 1930-44. Among other discoveries he found a nova candidate that appeared on a plate taken on March 23, 1931. This star has stayed in obscurity since that time, its only record being that of Tombaugh's notes written on the plate jacket. On March 23, 1990, this star again went into outburst. Observational studies during this recent outburst and one month later during quiescence have shown this star to be a high-galactic-latitude cataclysmic variable. A total of 11 historical outbursts are now known for this object, all of which have a maximum near V = 13.0, 6.5 magnitudes above its current quiescent value.