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   PR # 21506
    GP Com is a short period binary in which an accretion disk is        
    supplied by helium and nitrogen rich material from the hydrogen-     
    depleted core of one of the stars. Optical and UV spectra are        
    dominated by HeI and NI lines at ratios compatible with GP Com having
    formed from solar abundance material. However, elements heavier than 
    oxygen have not been found, and seem to be greatly depleted, which is
    hard to understand on evolutionary grounds. The ionization state of  
    GP Com is peculiar with HeI, HeII, NI, and NV coexisting, suggesting 
    that heavy elements are highly ionised and thus undetectable at low  
    energies. We will use the high spectral resolution of ASCA to make a 
    sensitive search for these heavy elements.                           
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