RX J0117.6-7330 and RX J0550.0-7151

P. A. Charles and K. A. Southwell, Oxford University; and D. O'Donoghue, University of Cape Town, report: "We observed the 14th- magnitude star close to the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) x-ray nova RX J0117.6-7330 (IAUC 6282) with the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) on Jan. 18 UT and monitored it with the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) 1.9-m telescope from Jan. 24 to 28. The AAT spectrum revealed strong, narrow (250 km/s) Balmer emission (H-alpha, EW = 1.3 nm; H-beta, EW = 0.13 nm) superposed on a blue continuum with weak He I and C III/N III absorption, supporting its identification as the optical counterpart. With a magnitude of V = 14.2, we derive Mv = -4.6, which is consistent with a massive OB star in the SMC. No photometric variations greater than 0.05 mag were seen during the SAAO run. "Our AAT spectra of the red star close to the LMC supersoft source RX J0550.0-7151 (IAUC 6278) reveal strong, narrow (160 km/s) Balmer emission superposed on the spectrum of a cool star, thus confirming its symbiotic nature."