RXTE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 34.85-DAY CYCLE OF HER X-1

An analysis of the publicly available Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXT E) archive on Her X-l, including data on 23 34.85-d cycles, is perform ed. The turn-on times for these cycles are determined. The number of c ycles with a duration of 20.5 orbits has been found to be much larger than the number of shorter (20 orbits) or longer (21 orbits) cycles. A correlation between the duration of a cycle and its mean X-ray flux i s noted. The mean X-ray light curve shows a very distinct short on-sta te. The anomalous X-ray absorption dip is found during the first orbit , after the turn-on in the main on-state for the cycles starting near the binary phase 0.25, and is present during two successive orbits in the low on-state. The post-eclipse recovery feature has not been found in the main on-state but appears at least for two orbits during the l ow on-state. The pre-eclipse dips are present in both main and low on- states and demonstrate a behaviour like that of early observations. Th e comparison of durations of the main and short on-states enables us t o constrain the accretion disc semithickness and its inclination to th e orbital plane.