RXTE/ASM Observations Of SS 433 And Cygnus X-2
Abstract
We present a dynamic period search analysis of the X-ray binaries SS 433 and Cygnus X-2 using data from the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer All Sky Monitor (RXTE/ASM) spanning over 13 years. We report the detection of a period in SS 433 near 162 days. This may be the first detection of the disk precession period in X-rays. We detect an 81.8 day period in the object Cygnus X-2. The RXTE/ASM light curve is inconsistent with the 77.7 day X-ray period of Wijnands et al. (1996), which was based on a small subset of the RXTE/ASM data combined with data from VELA 5B, and Ariel 5 All-Sky Monitors. Since Cygnus X-2 displays periodic behavior that seems to come and go, producing different best-fit periods on time scales of a few years; we suggest that Cygnus X-2 exhibits quasi-periodic oscillations of about 80 days. This research is supported by a grant from the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #215
- Pub Date:
- January 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AAS...21541910H