F. Capitanio

The Third IBIS/ISGRI Soft Gamma-Ray Survey Catalog

In this paper we report on the third soft gamma-ray source catalog obtained with the IBIS/ISGRI gamma-ray imager on board the INTEGRAL satellite. The scientific data set is based on more than 40 Ms of high-quality observations performed during the first 3.5 yr of Core Program and public IBIS/ISGRI observations. Compared to previous IBIS/ISGRI surveys, this catalog includes a substantially increased coverage of extragalactic fields, and comprises more than 400 high-energy sources detected in the energy range 17-100 keV, including both transients and faint persistent objects that can only be revealed with longer exposure times.

THE FOURTH IBIS/ISGRI SOFT GAMMA-RAY SURVEY CATALOG

In this paper, we report on the fourth soft gamma-ray source catalog obtained with the IBIS gamma-ray imager on board the INTEGRAL satellite. The scientific data set is based on more than 70 Ms of high-quality observations performed during the first five and a half years of the Core Program and public observations. Compared to previous IBIS surveys, this catalog includes a substantially increased coverage of extragalactic fields, and comprises more than 700 high-energy sources detected in the energy range 17-100 keV, including both transients and faint persistent objects that can only be revealed with longer exposure times. A comparison is provided with the latest Swift/BAT survey results.

3-200 keV spectral states and variability of the INTEGRAL black hole binary IGR J17464-3213

On March 2003, IBIS, the gamma-ray imager on board the INTEGRAL satellite, detected an outburst from a new source, IGR J17464-3213, that turned out to be a HEAO 1 transient, H1743-322. In this paper we report on the high-energy behavior of this black hole candidate (BHC) studied with the three main instruments on board INTEGRAL. The data, collected with unprecedented sensitivity in the hard X-ray range, show a quite hard Comptonized emission from 3 up to 150 keV during the rising part of the source outburst, with no thermal emission detectable. A few days later, a prominent soft-disk multicolor component appears, with the hard tail luminosity almost unchanged: ~5 × 10-9 ergs cm-2 s-1. Two months later, during a second monitoring campaign near the end of the outburst, the observed disk component was unchanged. Conversely, the Comptonized emission from the central hot part of the disk reduced by a factor of ~10. We present here its long-term behavior in different energy ranges and the combined JEM-X, SPI, and IBIS wideband spectral evolution of this source.

High-energy observations of the state transition of the X-ray nova and black hole candidate XTE J1720-318

We report the results of extensive high-energy observations of the X-ray transient and black hole candidate XTE J1720-318 performed with INTEGRAL, XMM-Newton and RXTE. The source, which underwent an X-ray outburst in 2003 January, was observed in February in a spectral state dominated by a soft component with a weak high-energy tail. The XMM-Newton data provided a high column density Nh of 1.2*e22 cm^{-2} which suggests that the source lies at the Galactic Centre distance. The simultaneous RXTE and INTEGRAL Target of Opportunity observations allowed us to measure the weak and steep tail, typical of a black-hole binary in the so-called High/Soft State. We then followed the evolution of the source outburst over several months using the INTEGRAL Galactic Centre survey observations. The source became active again at the end of March: it showed a clear transition towards a much harder state, and then decayed to a quiescent state after April. In the hard state, the source was detected up to 200 keV with a power law index of 1.9 and a peak luminosity of 7*e36 erg s^{-1} in the 20-200 keV band, for an assumed distance of 8 kpc. We conclude that XTE J1720-318 is indeed a new member of the black hole X-ray novae class which populate our galactic bulge and we discuss its properties in the frame of the spectral models used for transient black hole binaries.

State transition and flaring activity of IGR J17464-3213/H1743-322 with INTEGRAL SPI

IGR J17464-3213, already known as the HEAO 1 transient source H1743-322, has been detected during a state transition by INTEGRAL SPI. We describe the spectral evolution and flaring activity of IGR J17464-3213/H1743-322 from 2003 March 21 to 2003 April 22. During the first part, the source followed a continuous spectral softening, with the peak of the spectral energy distribution shifting from 100 keV down to ~a few keV. However, the thermal disk and the hard X-ray components had a similar intensity, indicating that the source was in an intermediate state throughout our observations and evolving toward the soft state. In the second part of our observations, the RXTE ASM and INTEGRAL SPI light curves showed a strong flaring activity. Two flare events lasting about 1 day each have been detected with SPI and are probably due to instabilities in the accretion disk associated with the state transition. During these flares, the low (1.5-12 keV) and high (20-200 keV) energy fluxes monitored with the RXTE ASM and INTEGRAL SPI are correlated, and the spectral shape (above 20 keV) remains unchanged while the luminosity increases by a factor greater than 2.

The peculiar 2011 outburst of the black hole candidate IGR J17091−3624, a GRS 1915+105-like source?

We report on the long-term monitoring campaign of the black hole candidate IGR J17091−3624 performed with INTEGRAL and Swift during the peculiar outburst started on 2011 January. We have studied the two-month spectral evolution of the source in detail. Unlike the previous outbursts, the initial transition from the hard to the soft state in 2011 was not followed by the standard spectral evolution expected for a transient black hole binary. IGR J17091−3624 showed pseudo-periodic flare-like events in the light curve, closely resembling those observed from GRS 1915+105. We find evidence that these phenomena are due to the same physical instability process ascribed to GRS 1915+105. Finally, we speculate that the faintness of IGR J17091−3624 could be not only due to the high distance of the source but also due to the high inclination angle of the system.

Discovery of the INTEGRAL X/γ-ray transient IGR J00291+5934: A Comptonised accreting ms pulsar?

We report the discovery of a high-energy transient with the IBIS/ISGRI detector on board the INTEGRAL ob- servatory. The source, namely IGR J00291+5934, was first detected on 2nd December 2004 in the routine monitoring of the IBIS/ISGRI 20−60 keV images. The observations were conducted during Galactic Plane Scans, which are a key part of the INTEGRAL Core Programme observations. After verifying the basic source behaviour, the discovery was announced on 3rd December. The transient shows a hard Comptonised spectrum, with peak energy release at about 20 keV and a total lumi- nosity of ∼0.9 × 10 36 erg s −1 in the 5−100 keV range, assuming a distance of 3 kpc. Following the INTEGRAL announcement of the discovery of IGR J00291+5934, a number of observations were made by other instruments. We summarise the results of those observations and, together with the INTEGRAL data, identifiy IGR J00291+5934 as the 6th member of a class of accreting X-ray millisecond pulsars.

The first outburst of the black-hole candidate MAXI J1836−194 observed by INTEGRAL, Swift, and RXTE

MAXI J1836−194 is a transient black-hole candidate discovered in outburst on 30 August 2011. We report on the available INTEGRAL,Swift, and RXTE observations performed in the direction of the source during this event before 55 864 MJD. Combining the broad band (0.6–200 keV) spectral and timing information obtained from these data with the results of radio observations, we show that the event displayed by MAXI J1836−194 is another example of “failed” outburst. During the first ∼20 days after the onset of the event, the source underwent a transition from the canonical low/hard to the hard intermediate state, while reaching the highest X-ray flux. In the ∼40 days following the peak of the outburst, the source displayed a progressive spectral hardening and a decrease in the X-ray flux, thus it entered again the low/hard state and began its return to quiescence.

IBIS preliminary results on Cygnus X-1 spectral and temporal characteristics

We report preliminary results of a broadband spectral and temporal study of the black-hole binary Cyg X-1 performed with the IBIS telescope. Cyg X-1 was the first pointed celestial target of IBIS during the INTEGRAL Performance and Verification Phase, 2002 Nov.-Dec., for a total observing time of ∼2 Ms in both staring and dithering mode. Here, we report on only the staring, on-axis, observation performed in a stable instrument configuration. During the observing period the source was in its characteristic low/hard state, in which a few flares and dips have been detected. The IBIS/ISGRI results demonstrate that the INTEGRAL observatory offers a unique capability for studying correlations between hardness and/or flux in different bands over a wide photon energy range. One of our new results is finding that the hardness-flux correlation changes the sign twice over the 20-220 keV; first from positive to negative at ∼50 keV, and then back to positive at 120 keV. The former change appears to be due to the spectral curvature introduced by variable Compton reflection. The latter may be due spectral pivoting.

THE TWO INTEGRAL X-RAY TRANSIENTS IGR J17091–3624 AND IGR J17098–3628: A MULTIWAVELENGTH LONG-TERM CAMPAIGN

IGR J17091–3624 and IGR J17098–3628 are two X-ray transients discovered by INTEGRAL and classified as possible black hole candidates. We present here the results obtained from the analysis of multiwavelength data sets collected by different instruments from 2005 until the end of 2007 on both sources. IGR J17098–3628 has been regularly detected by INTEGRAL and RXTE over the entire period of the observational campaign; it was also observed with pointed observations by XMM-Newton and Swift/X-ray Telescope (XRT) in 2005 and 2006 and exhibited flux variations not linked with the change of any particular spectral features. IGR J17091 – 3624 was initially in quiescence (after a period of activity between 2003 April and 2004 April) and it was then detected again in outburst in the XRT field of view during a Swift observation of IGR J17098–3628 on 2007 July 9. The observations during quiescence provide an upper limit to the 0.2-10 keV luminosity, while the observations in outburst cover the transition from the hard to the soft state. Moreover, we obtain a refined X-ray position for IGR J17091–3624 from the Swift/XRT observations during the outburst in 2007. The new position is inconsistent with the previously proposed radio counterpart. We identify in VLA archive data a compact radio source consistent with the new X-ray position and propose it as the radio counterpart of the X-ray transient.