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The Discovery of an Outburst and Pulsed X-ray Flux from SMC X-2 from RXTE Observations

R. H. D. Corbet·F. E. Marshall·M. J. Coe·S. Laycock·G. Handler
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Abstract

Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer All Sky Monitor observations of SMC X-2 show that the source experienced an outburst in January to April 2000 reaching a peak luminosity of greater than ~10^38 ergs s^-1. RXTE Proportional Counter Array observations during this outburst reveal the presence of pulsations with a 2.37s period. However, optical photometry of the optical counterpart showed the source to be still significantly fainter than it was more than half a year after the outburst in the 1970s when SMC X-2 was discovered.

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R. H. D. Corbet, F. E. Marshall, M. J. Coe, S. Laycock, G. Handler. 2000-11-22. The Discovery of an Outburst and Pulsed X-ray Flux from SMC X-2 from RXTE Observations. https://doi.org/10.1086/318929

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