Characterization of new hard X-ray cataclysmic variables^⋆

F. Bernardini¹, D. de Martino¹, M. Falanga², K. Mukai³, G. Matt⁴, J.-M. Bonnet-Bidaud⁵, N. Masetti⁶ and M. Mouchet⁷

¹ INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, salita Moiariello 16, 80131 Napoli, Italy
e-mail: federico.bernardini@oa-roma.inaf.it, demartino@oacn.inaf.it
² International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Hallerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
e-mail: mfalanga@issibern.ch
³ CRESST and X-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 ; Department of Physics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
e-mail: koji.mukai@nasa.gov
⁴ Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá Roma III, via della Vasca Navale 84, 00146 Roma, Italy
e-mail: matt@fis.uniroma3.it
⁵ CEA Saclay, DSM/Irfu/Service d’Astrophysique, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
e-mail: bonnetbidaud@cea.fr
⁶ INAF Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna, via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
e-mail: nicola.masetti@iasfbo.inaf.it
⁷ Laboratoire APC, Université Denis Diderot, 10 rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, 75005 Paris ; LUTH, Observatoire de Paris, Section de Meudon, 5 place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon, France
e-mail: martine.mouchet@obspm.fr

Received: 16 March 2012
Accepted: 17 April 2012

Abstract

Aims. We aim at characterizing a sample of nine new hard X-ray selected cataclysmic variable (CVs), to unambiguously identify them as magnetic systems of the intermediate polar (IP) type.

Methods. We performed detailed timing and spectral analysis by using X-ray, and simultaneous UV and optical data collected by XMM-Newton, complemented with hard X-ray data provided by INTEGRAL and Swift. The pulse arrival time were used to estimate the orbital periods. The broad band X-ray spectra were fitted using composite models consisting of different absorbing columns and emission components.

Results. Strong X-ray pulses at the white dwarf (WD) spin period are detected and found to decrease with energy. Most sources are spin-dominated systems in the X-rays, though four are beat dominated at optical wavelengths. We estimated the orbital period in all system (except for IGR J16500-3307), providing the first estimate for IGR J08390-4833, IGR J18308-1232, and IGR J18173-2509. All X-ray spectra are multi-temperature. V2069 Cyg and RX J0636+3535 posses a soft X-ray optically thick component at kT  ~  80 eV. An intense K_α Fe line at 6.4 keV is detected in all sources. An absorption edge at 0.76 keV from OVII is detected in IGR J08390-4833. The WD masses and lower limits to the accretion rates are also estimated.

Conclusions. We found all sources to be IPs. IGR J08390-4833, V2069 Cyg, and IGR J16500-3307 are pure disc accretors, while IGR J18308-1232, IGR J1509-6649, IGR J17195-4100, and RX J0636+3535 display a disc-overflow accretion mode. All sources show a temperature gradient in the post-shock regions and a highly absorbed emission from material located in the pre-shock flow which is also responsible for the X-ray pulsations. Reflection at the WD surface is likely the origin of the fluorescent iron line. There is an increasing evidence for the presence of a warm absorber in IPs, a feature that needs future exploration. The addition of two systems to the subgroup of soft X-ray IPs confirms a relatively large (~30%) incidence.