Ultraviolet variability in the nucleus of the elliptical galaxy NGC 4278

We searched the HST Science Archive for the nuclei of elliptical galaxies with images obtained in different epochs, to detect the presence of far-ultraviolet variability. We found multi-epochs observations only for the elliptical galaxy NGC 4278. It hosts a barely resolved nuclear source which increased its UV flux by a factor 4 between June 1994 and January 1995. The properties of the UV flare of NGC 4278 are remarkably similar to the UV-bright nuclear transients discovered earlier in other low-luminosity AGNs. This supports the idea that UV flaring near the center of galaxies may be a common event and offers a way to search for black-hole-related activities in otherwise quiescent galaxies.