High Energy Phenomena in Supergiant X-ray Binaries

Sylvain Chaty (1, 2, 3)

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

The INTEGRAL satellite has revealed a major population of supergiant High Mass X-ray Binaries in our Galaxy, revolutionizing our understanding of binary systems and their evolution. This population, constituted of a compact object orbiting around a massive and luminous supergiant star, exhibits unusual properties, either being extremely absorbed, or showing very short and intense flares. An intensive set of multi-wavelength observations has led us to reveal their nature, and to show that these systems are wind-fed accretors, closely related to massive star-forming regions. In this paper I describe the characteristics of these sources, showing that this newly revealed population is linked to the evolution of gamma-ray emitting massive stars with a compact companion.

Mots clés: Multiwavelength observations; HMXB; INTEGRAL; neutron star; accreting pulsar

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

Sylvain Chaty. High Energy Phenomena in Supergiant X-ray Binaries. 2009. ⟨hal-00482876⟩