2009CBET.2033....1W

P. Wils, Vereniging Voor Sterrenkunde, Hever, Belgium; J. Greaves, Northamptonshire, U.K.; A. J. Drake, California Institute of Technology; M. Catelan, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile; and the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey (CRTS) collaboration (cf. CBETs 1523, 2023) report the discovery of a possible FU-Ori-type eruption (see Hartmann and Kenyon 1996, ARAA 34, 207) located at R.A. = 6:09:19.32, Decl. = -6:41:55.4 (equinox 2000.0), and coincident with the infrared source IRAS 06068-0641. Discovered by the CRTS on Nov. 10, it has been continuously brightening from at least early 2005 (when it was mag 14.8 on unfiltered CCD images) to the present mag 12.6, and may possibly brighten further. On recent images, a faint cometary reflection nebula is visible to the east. A spectrum (range 350-900 nm), taken with the SMARTS 1.5-m telescope at Cerro Tololo, on Nov. 17, shows H_alpha in emission, all other Balmer lines and He I (at 501.5 nm) in absorption, and a very strong Ca II infrared triplet in emission, confirming it to be a young stellar object. The object lies inside a dark nebula to the south of the Mon R2 association, and is likely related to it. In addition, also inside this dark nebula, a second object at R.A. = 6:09:13.70, Decl. = -6:43:55.6, coincident with IRAS 06068-0643, has been varying between mag 15 and 20 over the past few years, reminiscent of UX-Ori-type objects with very deep fades. Also, this second object supports a variable cometary reflection nebula, extending to the north. The spectrum of this object also shows H_alpha and the strong Ca II infrared triplet in emission. Light curves, spectra, and images are available at the following website URL: http://crts.caltech.edu/CSS091110.html.