Abstract
A class of galactic X-ray source exists whose members show properties which have many similarities to those of Sco X-1, the brightest source in the X-ray sky1–3. The X-ray emission from such sources is widely believed to arise from the transfer of matter on to a compact object in a close binary system, but despite extensive observations in many regions of the electromagnetic spectrum there has been little direct evidence to support this view. A study of the temporal behaviour of these Sco-like sources, using data from the Ariel V Sky Survey Instrument (SSI) is in progress; we report here the results of a detailed analysis for one such source, 2S0614+091, which undergoes significant variations in its X-ray intensity consistent with a period of 5.2±0.3 days. This is the first discovery of a periodic modulation in the X-ray emission from this class of source and, despite problems regarding the mass-transfer mechanism, provides evidence for their binary nature. Our result has wider implications if 2S0614+091 is confirmed to be an X-ray burster.
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Marshall, N., Millit, J. Evidence for an X-ray period in the ‘Sco-like’ source 2S0614+091. Nature 293, 379–382 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/293379a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/293379a0
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