X-ray bursts from the source A1742-294 in the Galactic-center region

We present observations of the X-ray burster A1742-294 near the Galactic ce nter with the ART-P telescope onboard the Granat observatory. The shape of its persistent spectra was described well by the model of bremsstrahlung fr om optically thin plasma, and it remained essentially unchanged over simila r to2.5 years of observations. We show that the mean interval between X-ray bursts from the source is several times shorter than assumed previously an d that the burst profile itself depends on the flux during the burst. We an alyze in detail the strong X-ray burst detected from this source on October 18, 1990, and construct the evolution curves of its luminosity and radiati on temperature. (C) 2001 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".