THE LONG-PERIOD AM HERCULIS-LIKE CATACLYSMIC VARIABLE RXJ-051541+0104.6

We report the discovery of a new cataclysmic variable system, RXJ 051541 + 0104.6. The optical spectrum has a blue continuum with superposed H I and He I and II emission lines. The soft X-ray spectrum is well fit with a 50 eV blackbody. The X-ray and optical data are suggestive of an AM Herculis system. The X-ray light curve shows extreme variability on timescales of seconds and suggests an orbital period of order 8 hr, nearly twice that of the longest cataloged AM Her period. When bright, the X-ray light curve breaks up into a series of discrete bursts, which may be due to accretion of dense blobs of material of similar to 10(17) g mass.