ON THE NEW MINIMUM OF THE SYMBIOTIC NOVA PU VULPECULAE

UBV photoelectric photometry covering the period 1989-94 is presented for the symbiotic nova PU Vul together with 3500-7700 Angstrom low-res olution absolute spectrophotometry and high-resolution echelle+CCD pro files of selected emission lines. The discussion is focused on the bri ghtness drop the system experienced between 1993 mid-September and 199 4 late-September. As for the first deep minimum in 1980, the interpret ation of the new brightness drop remains somewhat unclear. An eclipse of the outbursting component by the cool giant companion may account f or several of the observed features, but a few problems remain.