1998/04/20 by G. L. Israel, S. Campana, Israel, G. L. +11
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Geophysics and Gravity Measurements #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9804186
4 pages (figures included). Accepted for publication on A&A Letters
arxiv created 1998/04/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
We analysed 13 archival ROSAT PSPC and HRI observations which included the position of a newly discovered 59s X-ray pulsar in the Small Magellanic Cloud, 1SAX J0054.9-7226 = 2E 0053.2-7242. The source was detected three times between 1991 and 1996 at a luminosity level ranging from about 8 x 1034 - 4 x 1035 erg s-1 (0.1-2.4 keV). Highly significant pulsations at 59.072s were detected during the 1991 October 8-9 observation. The ROSAT period, together with those measured by RXTE and BeppoSAX yields a period derivative of Pdot = - 0.016 s yr-1. A much more accurate source position (10 arcsec uncertainty) was obtained through the ROSAT HRI detection on 1996 April restricting to three mV > 15.5 stars the likely counterpart of 1SAX J0054.9-7226 = 2E 0053.2-7242.