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A Serendipitous XMM-Newton Observation of the Intermediate Polar WX Pyx

Eric M. Schlegel
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Abstract

We briefly describe a serendipitous observation of the little-studied intermediate polar WX Pyx using XMM-Newton. The X-ray spin period is 1557.3 sec, confirming the optical period published in 1996. An orbital period of approximately 5.54 hr is inferred from the separation of the spin-orbit sidelobe components. The soft and hard band spin-folded light curves are nearly sinusoidal in shape. The best-fit spectrum is consistent with a bremsstrahlung temperature of about 18 keV. An upper limit of approximately 300 eV is assigned to the presence of Fe line emission. WX Pyx lies near TX and TV Col in the P_spin-P_orb plane.

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Eric M. Schlegel. 2004-12-16. A Serendipitous XMM-Newton Observation of the Intermediate Polar WX Pyx. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361%3A20042314

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