******************************************************
   PR # 43014
   11 intermediate polars have so far been observed with ASCA. However,
   all of these are systems which accrete through an accretion disk. The
   recently discovered system RX1712-24 is the first known intermediate
   polar without a disk, so the accretion stream impacts directly onto
   the magnetosphere. It will flip between the magnetic poles on the
   beat cycle, probably breaking up into chaotic blobs. Such blobs might
   survive until they bury into the white dwarf. The light curve and
   spectral characteristics of RX1712-24 are expected to be very
   different as a result. We propose the first hard X-ray observation of
   such a system - a prime opportunity to observe an entirely new
   phenomenon in accretion physics.
  ******************************************************