We present a ∼5-yr optical light curve of the recurrent Be/X-ray transient A0538-66 obtained as a by-product of the MACHO Project. These data reveal both a long-term modulation at P=420.8±0.8 d and a short-term modulation at 16.6510±0.0022 d which, within errors, confirms the previously found orbital period. Furthermore, the orbital activity is only seen at certain phases of the 421-d cycle, suggesting that the long-term modulation is related to variations in the Be star envelope.
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Alcock et al. (2001) studied this question.
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