DISCOVERY OF A NEW 170-S X-RAY PULSAR 1SAXJ1324.4-6200

We report the discovery with BeppoSAX of a new 170.84 +/- 0.04s X-ray pulsar, 1SAXJ1324.4-6200, found serendipitously in the field of the X- ray binary XB 1323-619 in 1997 August. The source and periodicity are also detected in archival ASCA data taken in 1994. The X-ray spectrum is modeled by a power-law with a photon index of 1.0 +/- 0.4 and absor ption of (7.8+/-(2.7)(1.1)) x 10(22) atom cm(-2). The source is locate d close to the galactic plane and within 3' of the direction of the da rk cloud DC 306.8+0.6. The measured interstellar absorption and cloud size imply a distance >3.4 kpc. This implies a 1-10 keV source luminos ity of >1.1 x 10(34) erg s(-1) during the BeppoSAX observation. The so urce is not detected in earlier Einstein IPC and EXOSAT CMA observatio ns, most probably due to reduced detector efficency and lower sensitiv ity to highly absorbed sources. The X-ray properties suggest that 1SAX J1324.4-6200 is an accreting neutron star with a Be star companion.