Bibcode
Carpano, S.; Altieri, B.; King, A. R.; Nucita, A.; Leisy, P.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 480, Issue 3, 2008, pp.807-810
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3
2008
Journal
Citations
2
Refereed citations
2
Description
Aims:We report the discovery of a peculiar object observed
serendipitously with XMM-Newton. We present its timing and spectral
properties and investigate its optical counterpart. Methods: The
light curve of the X-ray source, its spectrum, and the spectrum of the
best optical counterpart are presented and analyzed. Results: The
X-ray flux decreases by a factor of 6.5 within 1 h and stays in a low
state for at least 10 h, thereby suggesting the presence of an eclipse.
The spectrum is very soft, a power law with a slope of
Γ˜2.8, and does not change significantly before and after
the flux drop. The source is spatially coincident within few arc-seconds
with a Seyfert 2 galaxy belonging to a galaxy pair. Conclusions:
Although the background AGN seems the best counterpart, neither the
temporal nor the spectral properties of the X-ray source are compatible
with it. We investigate the possibility of having a foreground low-mass
X-ray binary in quiescence, where the companion is not detected in the
optical wavelength.
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