Discovery of a faint 437 s X - ray pulsar 1 SAX J 1452 . 8 - 5949

A new pulsar, 1SAX J1452.8−5949, was discovered during a BeppoSAX galactic plane survey on 1999 July 20 at R.A.=14h 52m 49. s3, Dec=−59◦ 49′ 18′′ (J2000) with a 90% confidence uncertainty radius of 50′′. Coherent pulsations were detected with a barycentric period of a 437.4±1.4 s. The X-ray spectrum can be modeled by a power-law with a photon index of 1.4±0.6 and absorption consistent with the galactic value in the direction of the source (1.9×1022 atom cm−2). An Fe K line with a equivalent width of ∼ >1.3 keV may be present in the spectrum. The unabsorbed 2–10 keV flux is 9×10−13 erg cm−2 s−1. The X-ray properties and lack of an obvious optical counterpart are consistent with a Be star companion at a distance of between approximately 6 and 12 kpc which implies a luminosity of (4–15)×1033 erg s−1.