The first giant flare from SGR 1806-20: observations with the INTEGRAL SPI Anti-Coincidence Shield

A giant flare from the Soft Gamma-ray Repeater SGR 1806-20 has been detected by several satellites on 2004 December 27. This tremendous outburst, the first one observed from this source, was a hundred times more powerful than the two previous giant flares from SGR 0525-66 and SGR 1900+14. We report the results obtained for this event with the Anticoincidence Shield of the SPI spectrometer on board the INTEGRAL satellite, which provides a high-statistics light curve at E>~80 keV. The flare started with a very strong pulse, which saturated the detector for ~0.7 s, and whose backscattered radiation from the Moon was detected 2.8 s later. This was followed by a ~400 s long tail modulated at the neutron star rotation period of 7.56 s. The tail fluence corresponds to an energy in photons above 3 keV of 1.6x10^44 (d/15 kpc)^2 erg. This is of the same order of the energy emitted in the pulsating tails of the two giant flares seen from other soft repeaters, despite the hundredfold larger overall emitted energy of the SGR 1806-20 giant flare. Long lasting (~1 hour) hard X-ray emission, decaying in time as t^-0.85, and likely associated to the SGR 1806-20 giant flare afterglow has also been detected.Comment: revised version - Accepted for publication on The Astrophysical Journal Letter

Three Dimensional Simulation of Gamma Ray Emission from Asymmetric Supernovae and Hypernovae

Hard X- and $\gamma$-ray spectra and light curves resulting from radioactive decays are computed for aspherical (jet-like) and energetic supernova models (representing a prototypical hypernova SN 1998bw), using a 3D energy- and time-dependent Monte Carlo scheme. The emission is characterized by (1) early emergence of high energy emission, (2) large line-to-continuum ratio, and (3) large cut-off energy by photoelectric absorptions in hard X-ray energies. These three properties are not sensitively dependent on the observer's direction. On the other hand, fluxes and line profiles depend sensitively on the observer's direction, showing larger luminosity and larger degree of blueshift for an observer closer to the polar ($z$) direction. Strategies to derive the degree of asphericity and the observer's direction from (future) observations are suggested on the basis of these features, and an estimate on detectability of the high energy emission by the {\it INTEGRAL} and future observatories is presented. Also presented is examination on applicability of a gray effective $\gamma$-ray opacity for computing the energy deposition rate in the aspherical SN ejecta. The 3D detailed computations show that the effective $\gamma$-ray opacity $\kappa_{\gamma} \sim 0.025 - 0.027$ cm$^{2}$ g$^{-1}$ reproduces the detailed energy-dependent transport for both spherical and aspherical (jet-like) geometry.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures. Figure 7 added in the accepted version. ApJ, 644 (01 June 2006 issue), in press. Resolution of figures lower than the published versio

The 1st INTEGRAL SPI-ACS Gamma-Ray Burst Catalogue

We present the sample of gamma-ray bursts detected with the anti-coincidence shield ACS of the spectrometer SPI on-board INTEGRAL for the first 26.5 months of mission operation (up to Jan 2005). SPI-ACS works as a nearly omnidirectional gamma-ray burst detector above ~80 keV but lacks spatial and spectral information. In this catalogue, the properties derived from the 50 ms light curves (e.g., T90, Cmax, Cint, variability, V/Vmax) are given for each candidate burst in the sample. A strong excess of very short events with durations <0.25 s is found. This population is shown to be significantly different from the short- and long-duration burst sample by means of the intensity distribution and V/Vmax test and is certainly connected with cosmic ray hits in the detector. A rate of 0.3 true gamma-ray bursts per day is observed.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, A&A accepte

The sample of INTEGRAL SPI-ACS gamma-ray bursts

The anti-coincidence system of the spectrometer on board INTEGRAL is operated as a nearly omnidirectional gamma-ray burst detector above ∼ 75 keV. During the elapsed mission time 324 burst candidates were detected. As part of the 3rd Interplanetary Network of gamma-ray detectors the cosmic origin of 115 burst was confirmed. Here we present a preliminary analysis of the SPI-ACS gamma-ray burst sample. In particular we discuss the origin of a significant population of short events (duration < 0.2 s) and a possibleme thod for a flux calibration of thedata

COMPTEL upper limits for Seyfert galaxies

The gamma‐ray emission of Seyfert galaxies has fallen far short of pre‐GRO expectations. No single object of this class has been detected by either COMPTEL or EGRET, and OSSE has detected only a fraction of the Seyferts expected. To derive a more stringent upper limit to the emission from these objects in the energy ranges 0.75 to 1 and 1 to 3 MeV, we have summed a large number of COMPTEL observations acquired during Phase 1 of the GRO mission. From a total of 47 observations of 23 individual X‐ray selected Seyfert galaxies, we derive preliminary upper limits of 8×10−8 photons/(cm2 s keV) in the 0.75‐1 MeV band and 1×10−8 photons/(cm2 s keV) in the 1‐3 MeV band

Measurements of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) with Glast

One of the scientific goals of the main instrument of GLAST is the study of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) in the energy range from ~20 MeV to ~300 GeV. In order to extend the energy measurement towards lower energies a secondary instrument, the GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM), will measure GRBs from ~10 keV to ~25 MeV and will therefore allow the investigation of the relation between the keV and the MeV-GeV emission from GRBs over six energy decades. These unprecedented measurements will permit the exploration of the unknown aspects of the high-energy burst emission and the investigation of their connection with the well-studied low-energy emission. They will also provide ne insights into the physics of GRBs in general. In addition the excellent localization of GRBs by the LAT will stimulate follow-up observations at other wavelengths which may yield clues about the nature of the burst sources.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, to be published in Baltic Astronomy - Proceedings of the minisymposium "Physics of Gamma-Ray Bursts", JENAM Conference, August 29-30, 2003, Budapes

COMPTEL upper limits for the 56Co γ-rays from SN1998bu

The type Ia supernova SN 1998bu in M96 was observed by COMPTEL for a total of 88 days starting 17 days after the detection of the SN. A special mode improving the low-energy sensitivity was invoked. We obtained images in the 847 keV and 1238 keV lines of 56Co using an improved point-spread function for the low-energies. We do not detect SN1998bu. Sensitive upper limits at both energies constrain the standard supernova model for this event