Rapid multiperiodic variability in a high-mass X-ray binary

Abstract

Positions of High-Mass X-ray Binaries are often known precisely enough to unambiguously identify the optical component, and a number of those stars are monitored by the OGLE and MACHO collaborations. The light curves of two such candidates are examined for evidence of Be star behavior and for periodicity. One of the stars exhibits two periods of 6.833 and 15.586 hours, much shorter and more stable than periods of Be/X-Ray Binaries that are attributed to the Be star's disk, but consistent with short-term Be variability attributed to pulsations. The multiperiodicity is quantified with Fourier techniques and examined for phase stability; a combination of radial and non-radial pulsations is discussed.

8 pages, 12 figures, submitted to MNRAS

References in corpus (4)

• Optical properties of SMC X-ray binaries
• X-ray observations of Be/X-ray binaries in the SMC
• A first-overtone RR Lyrae star with cyclic period changes
• Two long-period X-ray pulsars detected in the SMC field around XTE J0055-727

Cited by in corpus (8)

• A Long Look at the Be/X-Ray Binaries of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Be stars and binaries in the field of the SMC open cluster NGC330 with VLT-FLAMES
• The Chandra survey of the SMC "Bar": II. Optical counterparts of X-ray sources
• Photometric Periodicities of Be/X-ray Pulsars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Pulsating Components in Binary and Multiple Stellar Systems --- A Catalog of Oscillating Binaries
• Astrophysics in 2005
• SXP 323 - an unusual X-ray binary system in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Non-radial pulsations in the Be/X binaries 4U0115+63 and SAXJ2103.5+4545