BeppoSAX observations of the galactic source GS 1826-238 in a hard X-ray high state

The BeppoSAX Narrow Field Instruments observed the galactic source GS 1826- 238 in October 1997, following a hard X-ray burst with a peak flux of about 100 mCrab detected by BATSE. Two short X-ray bursts (similar to 150 second s) were detected up to 60 keV, with larger amplitude and duration at lower energies (up to a factor 20 times the persistent emission). This confirms t he proposed identification of the source as a weakly magnetized neutron sta r in a LMXRB system. For both persistent and bunt states, the spectrum in t he 0.4-100 keV energy range Is well fitted by an absorbed black body, plus a flat power-law (Gamma similar to 1.7) with an exponential cutoff at 50 ke V.