SUMMARY OF PROPOSAL 52064
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
770 SOUTH WILSON AVENUE
PASADENA
CALIFORNIA USA 91125
Tel: 818-397-7128 Fax: 818-397-9600
Medium: 4GBDAT
Subject: X-RAY BINARIES
UNDERSTANDING THE X-RAY VARIABILITY IN PSR B1259-63
ABSTRACT
We request a total of 120 ks of ASCA time to observe the radio pulsar/Be star binary PSR B1259-63 at four orbital phases. Previous ASCA detections of the source have demonstrated that this system provides the strongest evidence yet that an alternative mechanism to accretion, namely shock emission, can produce observable X-ray emission in neutron star binaries. Modeling of this system can constrain interesting physical parameters, however, only a single orbit has been studied to date. We require additional observations to verify that previously observed luminosity and spectral variations are not a result of time-variable Be star outflow, as well as to test model predictions at previously unsampled orbital phases at which the shock emission is uncontaminated by radiative cooling.
CO-INVESTIGATORS
| CO-I NAME | INSTITUTE | COUNTRY |
|---|
| MARCO TAVANI | COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY | USA |
| MASAHARU HIRAYAMA | UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO | JAPAN |
| FUMIAKI NAGASE | ISAS | JAPAN |
| LYNN COMINSKY | SONOMA STATE COLLEGE | USA |
| JONATHAN ARONS | UC BERKELEY | USA |
| NOBU KAWAI | RIKEN | JAPAN |
TARGETS
| TARGET NAME | PRI | RA | DEC | TIME | TC | OFF | GIS | SIS CNT | OBS |
|---|
| 1)PSR B1259-63 | 3 | 195.6987 | -63.8357 | 60 ks | N | Y | P | 0.15000 | 4 |
TARGET 1
REQUIRE OBS AT CERTAIN EPOCHS AND ARE CONSTRAINED BY VIEWING ANGLE. HAVE 3 DAYS FLEXIBILITY IN REQUESTED EPOCHS (TABLE 1 IN PROPOSAL). REQUEST 40 KS FOR FIRST AND LAST OBS, 20 KS FOR OTHER TWO.