2002AJ....123.3210S

A weak X-ray source (CAL 86=RX J0546.3-6836) in the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud has been identified with a faint, Galactic cataclysmic variable (CV). Photometry and spectroscopy obtained at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory reveal an orbital period of ∼0.0660 days. The spectrum has double-peaked emission lines of H, He I, Fe II, and Ca II, typical of an accretion disk in a CV. Long-term photometry from the MACHO Project shows irregularly spaced outbursts with amplitudes of ∼5 mag. Using several different methods we estimate the distance of CAL 86 is between 440 and 650 pc, placing the system ∼300 pc below the Galactic plane.