Conclusion
According to the scientific literature, GX 301-2 consists of a neutron star and a massive supergiant B star which is at least 35 times more massive than our sun. They orbit about each other once every 41.5 days. Click here for the original article written for the astronomical community. (http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/cdsbib?1982MNRAS.199..915W) If you click on "ADS Services" under Links at the bottom of the page, you can access the whole article.
Is that the period you found in your explorations? If so, you know that you have successfully analyzed the RXTE data just like the astronomers at NASA! Everything we know about this system has been learned using exactly the techniques and tools you used to find the period in this lesson. Imagine how exciting it would have been to have been the first person to find the period for this source!
Exercise T9
Write a short (1 page) paper summarizing your conclusions about this system. Include plots of data as well as explanations of what those plots show about GX301-2, and how you reached the conclusions you did.
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