ULTRAVIOLET OBSERVATIONS OF THE ACCRETION DISK IN LMC X-3

We report information obtained from a series of IUE low-resolution spe ctra and two HST UV spectra of LMC X-3. The HST spectra are used to id entify disk emission lines and interstellar absorptions as well as to fit continuum models, which indicate the presence of a hot disk compon ent. The IUE observations, mainly taken over approximately 1.5 years, were intended to study how the observed characteristics of the accreti on disk change through the precessional cycle. It is shown that althou gh the emission line strengths and short-wavelength ultraviolet flux a re well correlated, both optical and UV data show little long-term per iodic modulation was present during our observations, indicating LMC X -3 had dropped into a ''low'' state.