RXTE Observations of LMC X-1 and LMC X-3

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Of all known persistent stellar-mass black hole candidates, only LMC X-1 and LMC X-3 consistently show spectra that are dominated by a soft, thermal component. We present results from long (170ksec) Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) observations of LMC X-1 and LMC X-3 made in 1996 December. The spectra can be described by a multicolor disk blackbody plus an additional high-energy power-law. Even though the spectra are very soft (Gamma is about 2.5), RXTE detected a significant signal from LMC X-3 up to energies of 50keV, the hardest energy at which the object was ever detected. Focusing on LMC X-3, we present results from the first year of an ongoing monitoring campaign with RXTE which started in 1997 January. We show that the appearance of the object changes considerably over its 200d long cycle. This variability can either be explained by periodic changes in the mass transfer rate or by a precessing accretion disk analogous to Her X-1.