DETECTION, IDENTIFICATION, AND OBSERVED PROPERTIES OF LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD SUPERSOFT X-RAY SOURCES

A small number of ''supersoft'' X-ray sources has been found in the di rection of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), although information has been published for only six of these. It has been suggested that these sources may represent a separate class of low-mass X-ray binaries. In an effort to learn more about the properties of these supersoft sourc es, new observational data are presented for four of them, including X -ray positions, optical identifications, optical spectroscopy and phot ometry, and the discovery of a previously unreported supersoft source. Three of the supersoft sources have been optically identified with LM C stars which show strong emission lines of H and He II, typical of ac cretion disks. The systems appear to be close binary systems, although the properties of the compact stars are not certain.