Electronic Telegram No. 577 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION M.S. 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) CBAT@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html AG DRACONIS S. Moretti and M. Graziani, Associazione Ravennate Astrofili Rheyta (ARAR); and U. Munari and A. Siviero, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Astronomical Observatory, Padova, report that -- following recent visual estimates collected by AAVSO and VSNET indicating that the symbiotic binary and super-soft x-ray source AG Dra is rising in optical brightness -- they obtained UBVRI CCD photometric observations on July 14.92 UT, deriving the following magnitudes: U = 9.09 +/- 0.1, B = 9.53 +/- 0.04, V = 8.89 +/- 0.02, R_c = 8.29 +/- 0.02, I_c = 7.76 +/- 0.03. Comparing with data obtained over the last 30 years (cf. Galis et al. 2004, Baltic Astronomy 13, 132), the increase in brightness with respect to quiescence values is 2.5 mag in U, 1.5 mag in B, and 1.0 mag in V. This qualifies the current photometric state of AG Dra as one of the most active of the last few decades. CCD low-resolution spectroscopy (1 nm/pix dispersion, range 430-790 nm) was also obtained on July 14.98 with the 0.42-m reflector of the ARAR observatory in Bastia (Ravenna). The spectra show the intensity of the He II 468.6-nm emission line to be 0.75 that of H_beta, with a low intensity of the 682.5- and 708.8-nm emission bands of O VI Raman scattered by neutral hydrogen. This is reminiscent of a currently intermediate state between the opposite types of cool and hot outbursts described for AG Dra by Viotti et al. (2005, Ap. Space Sci. 296, 435). NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2006 CBAT 2006 July 17 (CBET 577) Daniel W. E. Green