A QPO is identified by performing a power spectrum of the time series of the X-rays. A constant level of white noise is expected from the random variation of sampling the object's light. Systems that show QPOs sometimes also show nonperiodic noise that appears as a continuous curve in the power spectrum. A periodic pulsation appears in the power spectrum as a peak of power at exactly one frequency (a Dirac delta function given a long enough observation). A QPO, on the other hand, appears as a broader peak, sometimes with a Lorentzian shape.