Observed Outburst Behavior
The flux and pulse frequency from a series of outbursts from A0535+26, a pulsar in a 110 day orbit about a Be star, is shown in the figure. Two types of behavior are seen: "Normal" outbursts, with luminosities of 1036 - 1037 erg/s, which occur once per orbit for a number of orbits; and "Giant" outbursts, shown in the figure,with peak luminosities near 1038 erg/s.
The flux and pulse frequency from a series of outbursts from A0535+26 (a pulsar in a 110 day orbit about a Be star) observed by BATSE on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory is shown. The upper panel gives the flux, the lower panel gives the pulsar spin frequency (corrected for orbital motion).