Issue |
A&A
Volume 443, Number 2, November IV 2005
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 485 - 494 | |
Section | Galactic structure, stellar clusters, and populations | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20053513 | |
Published online | 04 November 2005 |
Global characteristics of the first IBIS/ISGRI catalogue sources: unveiling a murky episode of binary star evolution
1
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Highfield, SO17 1BJ, UK e-mail: ajd@astro.soton.ac.uk
2
IASF – Rm, INAF, via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy
3
IASF – Bo, INAF, via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
4
CEA – Saclay, DAPNIA/Service d'Astrophysique, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
5
Geneva Observatory, INTEGRAL Science Data Centre, Chemin d'Ecogia 16, 1291 Versoix, Switzerland
Received:
25
May
2005
Accepted:
2
August
2005
INTEGRAL is the first gamma-ray astronomy mission with a sufficient sensitivity and angular resolution combination appropriate to the detection and identification of considerable numbers of gamma-ray emitting sources. The large field of view (~30° zero response FWHM) enables INTEGRAL to survey the galactic plane on a regular (~weekly) basis as part of the core programme. The first source catalogue, based on the 1st year of core programme data (~5 Ms) has been completed and published (Bird et al. 2004, ApJ, 607, L33). It contained 123 γ-ray sources (24 HMXB, 54 LMXB, 28 “unknown”, plus 17 others) – sufficient numbers for a reasonable statistical analysis of their global properties. These were located to a positional accuracy of typically 0.72 arcmin. The detection of previously unknown γ-ray emitting sources generally exhibiting high intrinsic absorption, which do not have readily identifiable counterparts at other wavelengths, is intriguing. The substantial fraction (roughly 20% of the total number) of unclassified γ-ray sources suggests they must constitute a significant family of objects. In this paper we review the global characteristics of the known galactic sources as well as the unclassified objects with the twin aims of investigating how the unclassified set may fit into stellar evolution and improving our understanding of known X-ray binary systems through the non-thermal γ-ray channel. In the context of the known systems we are very conscious that they constitute a γ-ray selected set, and may exhibit subtle generic differences to the rest of the class. We present Log(N)–Log(S) distributions, angular distributions, and for systems with reliable distance estimates the spatial distributions within the Galaxy and luminosity functions. For the unknown sources, this statistical analysis has shown that they are most likely to be HMXBs containing a highly magnetised neutron star. The lack of X-ray counterparts for these sources indicates a high degree of intrinsic obscuration.
Key words: gamma-rays: observations / X-rays: binaries / Galaxy: general / Galaxy: structure / Galaxy: stellar content
© ESO, 2005
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