Discovery of a possible symbiotic binary in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

We report the discovery of a possible symbiotic star, in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The object under consideration here, designated as RP 870, was detected during the course of a comprehensive H$\alpha$ survey of the LMC by Reid & Parker (2012). The spectrum of RP 870 showed high ionization emission lines of He I, He II and [O III] and molecular absorption bands of TiO $\lambda$$\lambda$6180, 7100. The collective signatures of a hot component (high excitation/ionization lines) and of a cool component (TiO molecular bands) are seen in RP 870, from which we propose it as a symbiotic star. Since known symbiotic systems are rare in the LMC, possibly less than a dozen are known, we thought the present detection to be interesting enough to be reported.