  TV Ret was classified as a cataclysmic variable due to an outburst observed
in 1977. We intended to confirm this classification and derive some basic
properties of the system. Low resolution optical spectra were obtained for a
spectral classification of the object. We find that the object is not a
cataclysmic variable but an emission line galaxy with a redshift z=0.0964. An
R-image taken in very good seeing conditions shows that the object is extended.
We show that TV Ret is a blue dwarf galaxy, probably compact, with an absolute
magnitude of MB = -17.5, a metallicity of 0.12 solar, and an average
temperature of 1.3 10^4 K. The line ratios place it among the HII galaxies,
although close to the border of the Seyfert2s. The outburst, which was observed
in 1977, could thus be explained by a supernova explosion. However, with an
absolute magnitude around MB = -21, it was an extremely bright one.
