2005A&A...431..667M

We present the timing and spectral properties of the transient Be/X-ray binary pulsar 3A 0535+262 during quiescence using three observations with the narrow field imaging instruments (NFI) of BeppoSAX. Assuming a distance of 2kpc for this system, the 2-10keV X-ray luminosities measured from the three observations are in the range of 1.5-4.0x10³³erg/s, indicating a very low rate of accretion. We report the detection of pulsations at a very low luminosity of 2x10³³erg/s during one of the three observations, though at this accretion rate the system is expected to be in the centrifugally inhibited regime. The X-ray spectra for the unpulsed observations are best modeled as power law type while a combined model of power law and black-body is required to fit the pulsed spectrum.