Multi-wavelength observations revealing the most obscured high energy sources of our Galaxy

S. Chaty (1, 2, 3)

1 AIM (UMR7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112) - Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation
2 DAP - Département d'Astrophysique (ex SAP)
3 UPD7 - Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7

A new type of high-energy binary system has been revealed by the INTEGRAL satellite. These sources are being unveiled by means of multi-wavelength optical, near- and mid-infrared observations. Among these sources, two distinct classes are appearing: the first one is constituted of intrinsically obscured high-energy sources, of which IGR J16318-4848 seems to be the most extreme example. The second one is populated by the so-called supergiant fast X-ray transients, with IGR J17544-2619 being the archetype. We first give here a general introduction on INTEGRAL sources, before reporting on multi-wavelength optical to mid-infrared observations of a sample constituted of 21 INTEGRAL sources. We show that in the case of obscured sources our observations suggest the presence of absorbing material (dust and/or cold gas) enshrouding the whole binary system. We finally discuss the nature of these two different types of sources, in the context of high energy binary systems, and give a scenario of unification of all these different types of high energy sources, based on their high energy properties.

Mots clés: X-rays; multi-wavelength observations; INTEGRAL

Domaines: Phénomènes cosmiques de haute energie [astro-ph.HE]; Phénomènes cosmiques de haute energie [astro-ph.HE]

S. Chaty. Multi-wavelength observations revealing the most obscured high energy sources of our Galaxy. 7th INTEGRAL Workshop, Sep 2008, Copenhaguen, France. pp.71. ⟨hal-00479608⟩