The Probable Orbital Period of SXP1062 (CXO J012745.97-733256.5)
ATel #4596; P. C. Schmidtke (Arizona State University), A. P. Cowley (Arizona State University), A. Udalski (Warsaw University Observatory)
on 21 Nov 2012; 22:11 UT
Credential Certification: Paul Schmidtke (Paul.Schmidtke@asu.edu)
Subjects: Optical, X-ray, Binary, Neutron Star, Pulsar
The SMC Be/X-ray pulsar SXP1062, discovered by Henault-Brunet et al. (2012, MNRAS, 420, L13), is coincident with a Be star that appears to be associated with the young supernova remnant NGC 602. In the first season of OGLE-IV data (Udalski, 2008, Acta Astron., 58, 187) there was a single large outburst of ~0.6 mag. From the data preceding the outburst Schmidtke, Cowley, and Udalski (ATel #4399) found short-period variations at P=0.901 d, which they suggested are due to non-radial pulsations of the Be star.
Additional data from the third OGLE-IV season show a second outburst. Due to gaps in the data, maximum light of the narrow peak was not observed. By matching the declining portions of the two outbursts, we derive an orbital period of P=656+/-2 d. When plotted on the Corbet diagram (Corbet et al., 2009, Proc. IAU Symp. 256, 361), this source is consistent with other slowly rotating pulsars.