Urgent Request for Observations - FT South Users
FT South users are encouraged to observe an interesting outbursting X-ray Binary system, known as SAX J1808.4-3658.
This system is known as an accreting millisecond pulsar, a binary star
system consisting of a neutron star and a 'normal' star, thought to be
a brown dwarf with a mass around 5% that of our Sun.
Recent observations with X-ray satellites show that this system has
brightened considerably in X-rays, as well as in the infrared,
suggesting that perhaps the disc of material orbiting the neutron star
is undergoing a dramatic change.
Users of the FT on sessions before 13:30 UT are requested to obtain
data to be used by FT astronomers to try to detect this system in the
optical.
Interested users should use the i' band filter for observations of 200 seconds at
RA 18 08 28.0
dec -36 58 55.0
