BeppoSAX-WFCs monitoring of the high-mass X-ray binary 4U 1700-377

Cocchi, M.; Bazzano, A.; Capitanio, F.; Cornelisse, R.; Heise, J.; Kuulkers, E.; Natalucci, L.; Orr, A.; Ubertini, P.; in't Zand, J. J. M.
Bibliographical reference

Nuclear Physics B Proceedings Supplements, Volume 132, p. 592-595.

Advertised on:
6
2004
Number of authors
10
IAC number of authors
0
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
During the whole operational lifetime of the BeppoSAX X-ray satellite, the Galactic bulge region was monitored in the 2-28 keV band through dedicated observational campaigns and serendipitous secondary pointings by the Wide Field Cameras. Since the high mass binary 4U 1700-377 was in the field of view whenever a Camera pointed to the Galactic centre region, a large record of observations of this interesting source is available. In this paper, the results of a preliminary analysis of this WFC data set are presented. In particular, we focus on longer measurements when 4U 1700-377 was close to the FOV centre. The data shows pronounced variability, characterised by hour-long flaring episodes, and general spectral variability, in one case also in coincidence with a flaring event. A simple analysis of the time characteristics of the observed flares suggests these events can be roughly grouped in two different classes.