The pulse shape and spectrum of the millisecond pulsar PSR J0218+4232 in the energy band 1-10 keV observed with BeppoSAX

We present the results of a BeppoSAX observation of PSR J0218+4232 which, f or the first time, provides detailed information on the pulsar's temporal a nd spectral emission properties in the broad band 1-10 keV. We detected X-r ay pulses with a pulsed fraction of 73 +/- 12%. The pulse profile is charac terized by two peaks phase separated by Delta phi = 0.47 +/- 0.05. The puls ed spectrum is best described by a power-law of photon index 0.61 +/- 0.32 with an unabsorbed (2-10 keV) X-ray flux of 4.1 x 10(-13) erg cm(-2) s(-1) implying a luminosity of L-x = 1.3 x 10(32) Theta (d/5.7 kpc)(2) erg s(-1) and an X-ray efficiency of L-x/(E) over bar = 4.8 x 10(-4) Theta (d/5.7 kpc )(2) where Theta is the solid angle spanned by the emission beam.