On the magnetic accretor GK Persei in outburst

Abstract

RXTE made 5 X-ray observations of the magnetic accretor GK Per during its 1996 outburst, recording a count rate of ten 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 QPOs seen during GK Per's outbursts.

arXiv commentTo appear in MNRAS; 5 pages

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• Broad Observational Perspectives Achieved by the Accreting White Dwarf Sciences in the XMM-Newton and Chandra Eras
• Disc-Magnetosphere interactions in Cataclysmic Variable Stars