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Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients: A new class of high mass X-ray binaries unveiled by INTEGRAL

Ignacio Negueruela·David M. Smith·Pablo Reig·Sylvain Chaty·Jose Miguel Torrejon
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Abstract

INTEGRAL monitoring of the Galactic Plane is revealing a growing number of recurrent X-ray transients, characterised by short outbursts with very fast rise times (~ tens of minutes) and typical durations of a few hours. Here we show that several of these transients are associated with OB supergiants and hence define a new class of massive X-ray binaries which we call Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs). Many other transient X-ray sources display similar X-ray characteristics, suggesting that they belong to the same class. Since they are difficult to detect and their number is growing fast and steadily, they could represent a major class of X-ray binaries.

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Ignacio Negueruela, David M. Smith, Pablo Reig, Sylvain Chaty, Jose Miguel Torrejon. 2005-11-02. Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients: A new class of high mass X-ray binaries unveiled by INTEGRAL. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0511088

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