  A pointed observation on the galactic high-mass X-ray binary 4U 0114+65 was
carried out with BeppoSAX in order to compare the X-ray spectral and timing
characteristics observed by this satellite over the broadest range of energies
ever (1.5-100 keV) with the information previously obtained with other
spacecraft. The light curve of 4U 0114+65 shows a large flare at the beginning
of the BeppoSAX pointing and no significant hardness evolution either during
the flare or in the low state occurring after the flare itself. The modulation
at about 2.7 hours, attributed to the accreting neutron star (NS) spin
periodicity, is not significantly detected in our data, although fluctuations
with timescales of about 3 hours can be seen in the 2-10 keV light curve.
Shorter modulations down to timescales of minutes, are also found and
interpreted as due to accretion of matter onto the NS. The flaring and the low
state spectra of 4U 0114+65 can be equally well fitted either with a power law
modulated by a high-energy exponential cutoff or with a Comptonization model.
During the low state the presence, although tentative, of a thermal component
(with kT around 0.3 keV) at low energies, possibly produced by an ionized
plasma cloud around the NS, cannot be excluded. Contrary to previous claims, a
cyclotron resonant feature in absorption at about 22 keV was not detected in
the BeppoSAX spectroscopic data, whereas evidence for a Fe emission line around
6.4 keV is found only during the low state emission. Using all of the above
information, a scenario for the system in which the NS is embedded in, and
accreting from, a low angular momentum gas cloud is envisaged.
