A sudden increase in the X-ray flux from Centaurus A

Observations from OSO-7 show that the X-ray flux from Cen A increased by a factor of at least 1.6 over a six-day period in April 1973. Long-term observations indicate greater increases and a hardening of the spectrum. The maximum flux exceeded that measured by Tucker et al. and Lampton et al. in 1970 and 1971 by factors of 6.7 in the 2- to 10-keV range and 14 in the 10- to 50-keV range. Both rapid variability and a harder spectrum are consistent with a model proposed by Grindlay (1975). At maximum brightness, the best-fit spectrum leads to a luminosity of 1.1 x 10 to the 43rd power ergs/s in the 2- to 10-kev range.