GD 385 - A new ZZ Ceti variable

The discovery of a new ZZ Ceti variable, GD 385, is reported, thus increasing the number of stars belonging to this class to a total of 13. On time scales of a month the luminosity variations of this star are dominated by a single period of about 256 s; however, the light curve may abruptly change its character on time scales on the order of days. Variations have, on several occasions, been virtually undetectable during an entire night's observing run. This behavior cannot be explained in terms of simple beating phenomena. It is suggested that nonlinear coupling of pulsational energy among a large number of nonradial g-modes may account for the photometric behavior of GD 385.