DETECTION OF 2 NEW SUPERSOFT X-RAY SOURCES IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD

We present the Rosat discovery of two new supersoft sources in the Lar ge Magellanic Cloud (LMC), RX J0537.7-7034 and RX J0534.6-7056. The sp ectra of both sources are consistent with a black-body temperature in the range from 20 to 40 eV with corresponding X-ray luminosities in th e range 10(38) - 5 X 10(36) erg s-1 respectively. A third known supers oft source in the field of view, RX J0527.8-6954, was also detected at a count rate level of about a factor of 4 lower than in the Rosat obs ervations 2 years before. Together with Cal 83 and Cal 87, discovered by the Einstein survey of the LMC, these five objects represent a new class of X-ray sources. We discuss their interpretation in terms of th e model of white dwarfs burning hydrogen rich material accreted from t heir companion.