The first known Mira-type variable star in IC 1613

\n \nKing et al. (1999) discovered Nova 1999 in IC 1613 at the Lick\nObservatory.\nBoth Fugazza et al. ([CITE]) and Borissova et al. ([CITE]) questioned this\nclassification,\nbecause they were able to detect the star on images obtained in previous\nyears.\nIn infrared frames taken on Oct. 15, 1998, Nova 1999 has $(J-K) = 1.14$\nand\n$K = 14.69$ mag. Our light curve study, based primarily on 92 unfiltered\nLick images,\nsuggested that the object could be a Mira-type variable with a period of\n640.7 days.\nThis period is very close to that obtained by Fugazza et al. ([CITE]) -\n631 days.\nThe star is overluminous with respect to the period-luminosity (PL)\nrelation derived by Feast et al. ([CITE]) for Mira variables in the LMC. At\nlonger periods $(P > 400 \\rm days)$, many LMC Miras show such behavior and\nthe\nPL relation appears to break down. It is possible that the situation in\nIC 1613\nis similar. An optical spectrum obtained with the Keck-II telescope shows\nfeatures typical of M3Ie or M3IIIe stars. We conclude that the star is a\nnormal\nlong-period M-type Mira variable, the first such star confirmed in IC 1613.\n \n\n \n