X-ray variability of the pulsar Vela X-1 as observed with ART-P/Granat

Observations of the X-ray pulsar Vela X-1 with the ART-P telescope onboard the Granat Observatory are presented. Variability on a time scale of several thousand seconds was detected; intensity variations are shown to be accompanied by changes in the source’s spectrum. The hardness was also found to be highly variable on a scale of one pulsation period. The source’s spectrum exhibits an absorption feature at energy ～7 keV, which is apparently attributable to cyclotron scattering/absorption in the neutron-star magnetic field. Weak persistent emission was detected during an X-ray eclipse, which probably resulted from the scattering of pulsar emission in the stellar wind from an optical star.