4U 1323-62

M. van der Klis and A. Parmar, European Space Agency; J. van Paradijs, Astronomical Institute, Amsterdam; F. Jansen, Space Research Laboratory, Leiden; and W. H. G. Lewin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, telex: "An EXOSAT observation of EXO 1323.5- 6180 shows that this x-ray burst source (cf. IAUC 3961) exhibits periodic x-ray dips. Twelve dips of ~ 1 hr duration in the (~ 5 ufu) 1-10 keV flux were observed with the medium-energy instrument during Feb. 11.8-13.2 UT. The ephemeris of the dip center is HJD = 2446108.187 (+/- 0.002) +/- 0.1223 (+/- 0.0003) E. A similar dip, observed one year earlier (van der Klis et al. 1984, 18th ESLAB Symp., Scheveningen, Nov. 5-9), was centered on HJD 2445742.276. The dips do not reach the zero flux level and show considerable variability on timescales < 1 hr. We also observed six x-ray bursts, with a recurrence time of ~ 5.36 hr and an rms deviation of the burst occurrence time of ~ 200 s (i.e., 1 percent jitter). The burst peak fluxes were 10-20 times higher than the persistent flux. The source was not detected in a quick-look analysis of the low-energy-telescope data. From the variation of the count rates observed when the medium-energy detectors were moved over the source we estimate source's position to be within 15' of R.A. = 13h23m5, Decl. = -61deg48' (equinox 1950.0). This is consistent with the Einstein HRI database position (kindly provided by M. Watson, Leicester University) of R.A. = 13h23m17s1, Decl. = -61deg52'35"4 (equinox 1950.0) and with the position of 4U 1323-62."