2003/12/15 by Coel Hellier, Sean Harmer, A. P. Beardmore · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07539.x
published as Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. 349 (2004) 710 · To appear in MNRAS; 5 pages
arxiv created 2003/12/15 · openalex publication_date 2004/04/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
RXTE made five X-ray observations of the magnetic accretor GK Per during its 1996 outburst, recording a count rate of 10 times the quiescent level. The 351-s spin pulse shows a deep, nearly sinusoidal modulation, in contrast to the weaker, double-humped profile of quiescence. The spectrum shows absorption increased by two orders of magnitude over quiescence. We explain these differences in terms of the changing accretion geometry as the outbursting disc forces the magnetosphere inwards, and discuss the 5000-s X-ray quasi-periodic oscillations seen during the outbursts of GK Per.