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J. Chenevez

Publications and source records attributed to J. Chenevez.

45 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Two Years of INTEGRAL monitoring of GRS 1915+105 Part 2: X-Ray Spectro-Temporal Analysis

(abridged) This is the second paper presenting the results of two years of monitoring of GRS 1915+105 with \integral and \rxte and the Ryle Telescope. We present the X-ray spectral and temporal analysis of four observations which showed strong radio to X-ray correlations. During one observation GRS 1915+105 was in a steady state, while during the three others it showed cycles of X-ray dips and spikes (followed by radio flares). We present the time-resolved spectroscopy of these cyclesand show that in all cases the hard X-ray component (the Comptonized emission from a coronal medium) is suppressed in coincidence with a soft X-ray spike that ends the cycle. We interpret these results as evidence that the soft X-ray spike is the trigger of the ejection, and that the ejected medium is the coronal material. In the steady state observation, the X-ray spectrum is indicative of the hard-intermediate state, with the presence of a relatively strong emission at 15 GHz. The X-ray spectra are the sum of a Comptonized component and an extra power law extending to energies >200 keV without any evidence for a cut-off. We observe a possible correlation of the radio flux with that of the power law component, which may indicate that we see direct emission from the jet at hard X-ray energies. We study the energy dependence of a ~4 Hz QPO during the hard-intermediate state observation. The QPO-``spectrum'' is well modeled by a power law with a cut-off at an energy about 11 keV that clearly differs from the relative contribution of the Comptonized component to the overall flux. This may rule out models of global oscillations of the Compton corona.

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IGR J17254-3257, a new bursting neutron star

The study of the observational properties of uncommonly long bursts from low luminosity sources with extended decay times up to several tens of minutes is important when investigating the transition from a hydrogen-rich bursting regime to a pure helium regime and from helium burning to carbon burning as predicted by current burst theories. IGR J17254-3257 is a recently discovered X-ray burster of which only two bursts have been recorded: an ordinary short type I X-ray burst, and a 15 min long burst. An upper limit to its distance is estimated to about 14.5 kpc. The broad-band spectrum of the persistent emission in the 0.3-100 keV energy band obtained using contemporaneous INTEGRAL and XMM-Newton data indicates a bolometric flux of 1.1x10^-10 erg/cm2/s corresponding, at the canonical distance of 8 kpc, to a luminosity about 8.4x10^35 erg/s between 0.1-100 keV, which translates to a mean accretion rate of about 7x10^-11 solar masses per year. The low X-ray persistent luminosity of IGR J17254-3257 seems to indicate the source may be in a state of low accretion rate usually associated with a hard spectrum in the X-ray range. The nuclear burning regime may be intermediate between pure He and mixed H/He burning. The long burst is the result of the accumulation of a thick He layer, while the short one is a prematurate H-triggered He burning burst at a slightly lower accretion rate.

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The INTEGRAL Galactic bulge monitoring program: the first 1.5 years

The Galactic bulge region is a rich host of variable high-energy point sources. Since 2005, February 17 we are monitoring the source activity in this region about every three days with INTEGRAL. Thanks to the large field of view, the imaging capabilities and the sensitivity at hard X-rays, we are able to present for the first time a detailed homogeneous (hard) X-ray view of a sample of 76 sources in the Galactic bulge region. We describe the successful monitoring program and show the first results for a period of about one and a half year. We focus on the short (hour), medium (month) and long-term (year) variability in the 20-60 keV and 60-150 keV bands. When available, we discuss the simultaneous observations in the 3-10 keV and 10-25 keV bands. Per visibility season we detect 32/33 sources in the 20-60 keV band and 8/9 sources in the 60-150 keV band. On average, we find per visibility season one active bright (>~100 mCrab, 20-60 keV) black-hole candidate X-ray transient and three active weaker (<~25 mCrab, 20-60 keV) neutron star X-ray transients. Most of the time a clear anti-correlation can be seen between the soft and hard X-ray emission in some of the X-ray bursters. Hard X-ray flares or outbursts in X-ray bursters, which have a duration of the order of weeks, are accompanied by soft X-ray drops. On the other hand, hard X-ray drops can be accompanied by soft X-ray flares/outbursts. We found a number of new sources, IGR J17354-3255, IGR 17453-2853, IGR J17454-2703, IGR J17456-2901b, IGR J17536-2339, and IGR J17541-2252. We report here on some of the high-energy properties of these sources. The high-energy light curves of all the sources in the field of view, and the high-energy images of the region, are made available through the WWW at http://isdc.unige.ch/Science/BULGE/.

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The INTEGRAL Galactic Bulge monitoring program

The Galactic Bulge region is a rich host of variable high-energy point sources. These sources include bright and relatively faint X-ray transients, X-ray bursters, persistent neutron star and black-hole candidate binaries, X-ray pulsars, etc.. We have a program to monitor the Galactic Bulge region regularly and frequently with the gamma-ray observatory INTEGRAL. As a service to the scientific community the high-energy light curves of all the active sources as well as images of the region are made available through the WWW. We show the first results of this exciting new program.

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X-Ray Observations of SN 1006 with Integral

The remnant of the supernova of 1006 AD, the remnant first showing evidence for the presence of X-ray synchrotron emission from shock-accelerated electrons, was observed for ~1000 ksec with INTEGRAL for the study of electron acceleration to very high energies. The aim of the observation was to characterize the synchrotron emission, and attempt to detect non-thermal bremsstrahlung, using the combination of IBIS and JEM-X spatial and spectral coverage. The source was detected with JEM-X between 2.4 and 8.4 keV bands, and not detected with either ISGRI or SPI above 20 keV. The ISGRI upper limit is about a factor of four above current model predictions, but confirms the presence of steepening in the power-law extrapolated from lower energies (< 4 keV).

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Resolving the Hard X-ray Emission of GX 5-1 with INTEGRAL

We present the study of one year of INTEGRAL data on the neutron star low mass X-ray binary GX 5-1. Thanks to the excellent angular resolution and sensitivity of INTEGRAL, we are able to obtain a high quality spectrum of GX 5-1 from ~5 keV to ~100 keV, for the first time without contamination from the nearby black hole candidate GRS 1758-258 above 20 keV. During our observations, GX 5-1 is mostly found in the horizontal and normal branch of its hardness intensity diagram. A clear hard X-ray emission is observed above ~30 keV which exceeds the exponential cut-off spectrum expected from lower energies. This spectral flattening may have the same origin of the hard components observed in other Z sources as it shares the property of being characteristic to the horizontal branch. The hard excess is explained by introducing Compton up-scattering of soft photons from the neutron star surface due to a thin hot plasma expected in the boundary layer. The spectral changes of GX 5-1 downward along the "Z" pattern in the hardness intensity diagram can be well described in terms of monotonical decrease of the neutron star surface temperature. This may be a consequence of the gradual expansion of the boundary layer as the mass accretion rate increases.

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Improved mosaicking capabilities with JEM-X

Observations performed by INTEGRAL are typically subdivided in kilo-seconds individual pointings. A mosaic software has been developed at the Danish Space Research Institute to combine sky images from different pointings with significantly improved capabilities compared to the available software. This software takes account of the specifics of the JEM-X instrument, such as the vignetting effects due to its collimator and its mask structure. It calculates the weighted contribution of each pixel from each input sky images to be added in order to maximise the signal/noise ratio of each pixel in the combined sky image. The software produces mosaic'ed maps with the source signal and of the noise in each pixel, and is used as a tool to find new X-rays sources that are too weak to be seen in individual pointings.

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The INTEGRAL LMXRB Monitoring Programme

Our collaboration is responsible for the study of a sample of 72 low mass X-ray binaries (LMXRB) using the INTEGRAL Core Programme data. In this paper we describe the monitoring programme we have started and the current variability and spectral results on a sample of 8 persistently bright LMXRBs hosting a neutron star (Z and Atoll sources). Current results show that among our sample of sources there seems to be no important difference in the variability of Z sources with respect to Atolls and the first colour-colour and hardness intensity diagrams built in the "traditional" energy bands display the expected patterns. Z sources seem to be harder than the bright Atolls of our sample (above 20 keV) and present no evident cut-off until about 50 keV. A hint of a non-thermal hard tail is seen in Sco X-1 with ISGRI and SPI, similarly to what was previously detected by D'Amico et al. (2001) with RXTE. These results, even if preliminary, show the importance of such a programme and the potential underlying it to understand these sources as a class.

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Simultaneous observations of the quasar 3C 273 with INTEGRAL, XMM-Newton and RXTE

INTEGRAL has observed the bright quasar 3C 273 on 3 epochs in January 2003 as one of the first observations of the open programme. The observation on January 5 was simultaneous with RXTE and XMM-Newton observations. We present here a first analysis of the continuum emission as observed by these 3 satellites in the band from 3 keV to 500 keV. The continuum spectral energy distribution of 3C 273 was observed to be weak and steep in the high energies during this campaign. We present the actual status of the cross calibrations between the instruments on the three platforms using the calibrations available in June 2003.

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