1,203 research outputs found
INTEGRAL discovery of unusually long broad-band X-ray activity from the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient IGR J18483-0311
We report on a broad-band X-ray study (0.5-250 keV) of the Supergiant Fast
X-ray Transient IGR J18483-0311 using archival INTEGRAL data and a new targeted
XMM-Newton observation. Our INTEGRAL investigation discovered for the first
time an unusually long X-ray activity (3-60 keV) which continuously lasted for
at least 11 days, i.e. a significant fraction (about 60%) of the entire orbital
period, and spanned orbital phases corresponding to both periastron and
apastron passages. This prolongated X-ray activity is at odds with the much
shorter durations marking outbursts from classical SFXTs especially above 20
keV, as such it represents a departure from their nominal behavior and it adds
a further extreme characteristic to the already extreme SFXT IGR J18483-0311.
Our IBIS/ISGRI high energy investigation (100-250 keV) of archival outbursts
activity from the source showed that the recently reported hint of a possible
hard X-ray tail is not real and it is likely due to noisy background. The new
XMM-Newton targeted observation did not detect any sign of strong X-ray
outburst activity from the source despite being performed close to its
periastron passage, on the contrary IGR J18483-0311 was caught during the
common intermediate X-ray state with a low luminosity value of 3x10^33 erg s^-1
(0.5-10 keV). We discuss all the reported results in the framework of both
spherically symmetric clumpy wind scenario and quasi-spherical settling
accretion model.Comment: Accepted for publication on MNRAS. 10 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl
IGR J17488-2338: a newly discovered giant radio galaxy
We present the discovery of a large scale radio structure associated with IGR
J17488--2338, a source recently discovered by \emph{INTEGRAL} and optically
identified as a broad line AGN at redshift 0.24. At low frequencies, the source
properties are those of an intermediate-power FR II radio galaxy with a linear
size of 1.4\,Mpc. This new active galaxy is therefore a member of a class of
objects called Giant Radio Galaxies (GRGs), a rare type of radio galaxies with
physical sizes larger than 0.7\,Mpc; they represent the largest and most
energetic single entities in the Universe and are useful laboratories for many
astrophysical studies. Their large scale structures could be due either to
special external conditions or to uncommon internal properties of the source
central engine The AGN at the centre of IGR J17488--2338 has a black hole of
1.310 solar masses, a bolometric luminosity of
710erg\,s and an Eddington ratio of 0.3, suggesting that
it is powerful enough to produce the large structure observed in radio. The
source is remarkable also for other properties, among which its X-ray
absorption, at odds with its type 1 classification, and the presence of a
strong iron line which is a feature not often observed in radio galaxies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication on Astronomy and
Astrophysic
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