Discovery of X-Ray Burst Oscillations from a Neutron Star X-Ray Transient in the Globular Cluster NGC 6440

We report the discovery of millisecond oscillations in an X-ray burst from the X-ray transient SAX J1748.9-2021 in the globular cluster NGC 6440. Oscillations at a frequency of 409.7 ± 0.3 Hz were present in one of 15 X-ray bursts observed with the Proportional Counter Array on the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer during the outburst that occurred in 2001. The burst was relatively dim and had the second longest duration and decay time. The average peak luminosity of two bursts showing radius expansion is (3.6 ± 0.4) × 1038 ergs s-1, consistent with the Eddington luminosity for a 1.4 M☉ and 10 km radius neutron star burning hydrogen-poor matter. We speculate that the dichotomy observed between sources with burst oscillations at once versus twice the frequency difference of kHz quasiperiodic oscillations in the persistent emission may be related to the magnetic field geometry of the neutron stars.