The discovery of 8.9s pulsations from the variable X-ray source 2E0050.1-7247 in the small Magellanic cloud

Preprint

14 May 1997

preprint
Published by arXiv in arXiv

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.astro-ph/9705105

Abstract

During a systematic search for periodic signals in a sample of ROSAT PSPC light curves, we discovered ~ 8.9s X-ray pulsations in 2E0050.1-7247, a variable X-ray source in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The source was detected several times between 1979 and 1993 at luminosity levels ranging from about 5 times 10^{34} erg/s up to 1.4 times 10^{36} erg/s with both the Einstein IPC and ROSAT PSPC. The X-ray energy spectrum is consistent with a power law spectrum which steepens as the source luminosity decreases. We revealed a pronounced Halpha activity from at least two B stars in the X-ray error circles. These results strongly suggest that the X-ray pulsar 2E0050.1-7247 is in a Be-type massive binary.

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Version 1, 1997-05-14, ArXiv
Published version: The Astrophysical Journal, 484 (2), L141.

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