*************************************************************************
   82041
   Cook et al. identified a 0.7 day period in the Be star optical
   counterpart of the SMC X-ray pulsar RX J0050.7-7316. Further
   observations by Coe & Orosz suggest that the period is twice this at
   1.4 days. Either period would be extremely short for a Be/neutron star
   system, while the 323 s pulse period is rather long. We propose to
   investigate this mystery by performing ASCA observations which cover
   several binary periods and so study orbital flux modulation and Doppler
   shifts. The observations should reveal whether a eclipse occurs and
   determine the mass function, key parameters in understanding the the
   system. An extended observation will also enable the detection of other
   transient sources - RXTE and ASCA have shown the SMC to be extremely
   active in transient pulsars.
 *************************************************************************