EROS 2 photometry of probable R Coronae Borealis stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud*

EROS 2 (Expérience de Recherche d'Objets Sombres) conducted a survey of the SMC between July 1996 and February 2003 in two EROS broad-band colours, VEand RE. The photometric data of 4.2 million stars have been searched for behaviour typical of R Coronae Borealis (RCB) candidates such as drastic changes in magnitude. Five objects have been found, four of them being catalogued in the Simbad database as RAW 21, RAW 233, RAW 476, and [MH95] 431with confirmed carbon-rich atmospheres, characteristic of RCB. From the EROS 2 light curve of RAW 21and its spectrum reported by [CITE], we confirm that it is the first RCB to be found in the SMC. The other objects are new RCB candidates with absolute luminosity and colour close to those found for RCBs in the LMC. We propose that 2 of them are DY Per-like RCBs.