1996A&A...310L..25B

We report the discovery of a new magnetic cataclysmic variable, identified as the V∼17.6mag optical counterpart of the bright, soft, high-galactic latitude X-ray source RX J0512.2-3241 detected during the ROSAT All-Sky Survey RASS). The X-ray spectrum shows a soft component with no intrinsic absorption and a blackbody temperature kT_bb∼38eV, similar to polars. From our optical follow-up B and V CCD photometry we derive most probable spin and orbital periods of (863.5±0.7)s and (3.45±0.03)h respectively. We suggest that 0512-32 is another member of the small new class of soft X-ray intermediate polars. A lower limit for the distance to the system is d>740pc.