We report on our discovery and follow-up observations of the X-ray source SAX J1747.0-2853 detected in outburst on 1998 , March 10 with the BeppoSAX Wide Field Cameras in the energy range 2-28 keV .
The source is located about half degree off the Galactic Nucleus .
A total of 14 type I X-ray bursts were detected in Spring 1998 , thus identifying the object as a likely low-mass X-ray binary harboring a weakly magnetized neutron star .
Evidence for photospheric radius expansion is present in at least one of the observed bursts , leading to an estimate of the source distance of \sim 9 kpc .
We performed a follow-up target of opportunity observation with the BeppoSAX Narrow Field Instruments on March 23 for a total elapsed time of 7.2 \times 10 ^ { 4 } s. The source persistent luminosity was 2.6 \times 10 ^ { 36 } erg s ^ { -1 } in the 2-10 keV energy range .
The wide band spectral data ( 1-200 keV ) are consistent with a remarkable hard X-ray spectrum detected up to \sim 150 keV , highly absorbed at low energies ( { N } _ { H } \simeq 10 ^ { 23 } cm ^ { -2 } ) and with clear evidence for an absorption edge at \sim 7 keV .
A soft thermal component is also observed , which can be described by single temperature blackbody emission at \sim 0.6 keV .