2008/02/22 by S. Mereghetti, P. Romano, L. Sidoli · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:200809397
Accepted for publication on Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters; 4 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2008/02/22 · openalex publication_date 2008/03/11 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
We present recent observations of the X-ray pulsar SAX J1324–6200 obtained in December 2007 with the Swift satellite, significantly improving the source localization over previous data and providing a new measurement of the spin period s. A single object that is consistent in colors with a highly reddened early type star is visible in the X-ray error box. The period is significantly longer than what was obtained in 1997, indicating that SAX J1324–6200 has been spinning down at an average rate of s s-1. We discuss the possible nature of the source, showing that it most likely belongs to the class of low-luminosity, persistent Be/neutron star binaries.