H 0323+022 : a puzzling high-latitude X-ray/optical/radio source.

A flaring X-ray source, H0323+022, has been located at high galactic latitude (b = -42°) with the scanning modulation collimator on HEAO 1 and identified with a V = 16.5 ultraviolet-excess object. The counterpart has been observed on two occasions to have zero redshift absorption lines characteristic of an F or G star in the range 3800-7300 Å, but on at least five other occasions, these features have been absent. The object also has a large infrared flux indicating a multicomponent source. Observations with the Einstein Observatory indicate that the X-ray source has two components, a steady, soft component and a variable, hard component which exhibited a pronounced 60 s dip as well as flaring activity on time scales down to 6 hours. The source has also been detected at 5 GHz with a flux density of 41 ± 1 mJy by Feigelson, Giommi, and Maccacaro.