TY - JOUR
T1 - Detection of hard X-ray emission from the Galactic nuclear region with INTEGRAL
AU - Bélanger, G.
AU - Goldwurm, A.
AU - Goldoni, P.
AU - Paul, J.
AU - Terrier, R.
AU - Falanga, M.
AU - Ubertini, P.
AU - Bazzano, A.
AU - Del Santo, M.
AU - Winkler, C.
AU - Parmar, A. N.
AU - Kuulkers, E.
AU - Ebisawa, K.
AU - Roques, J. P.
AU - Lund, N.
AU - Melia, F.
N1 - Funding Information:
1 Based on observations with INTEGRAL, an ESA project with instruments and science data center funded by ESA member states (especially the PI countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Spain), the Czech Republic, and Poland, and with the participation of Russia and the US. 2Service d’Astrophysique, DAPNIA/DSM/CEA, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France; [email protected]. 3IASFC-CNR, I-00133 Rome, Italy; [email protected]. 4ESA, ESTEC, NL-2200 AG Noordwijk, Netherlands; christoph.winkler@ rssd.esa.int. 5ISDC, CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland; [email protected]. 6CESR, Toulouse Cedex 4, France; [email protected]. 7DSRI, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark; [email protected]. 8Department of Physics and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721; [email protected].
PY - 2004/2/1
Y1 - 2004/2/1
N2 - This Letter presents the first results of an observational campaign to study the Galactic center with INTEGRAL, the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory. Mosaicked images were constructed using data obtained with ISGRI, the soft gamma-ray instrument of the coded aperture IBIS imager, in the energy ranges 20-40 and 40-100 keV. These give a yet unseen view of the high-energy sources of this region in hard X-rays and gamma rays with an angular resolution of 12′ (FWHM). We report on the discovery of a source, IGR J1745.6-2901, coincident with the Galactic nucleus Sgr A* to within 0′.9. Located at R.A. = 17h45m38s.5 (J2000.0), decl. = -29°01′15″ (J2000.0), the source is visible up to about 100 keV with a 20-100 keV luminosity at 8 kpc of (2.89 ± 0.41) × 1035 ergs s-1. Although the new INTEGRAL source cannot unequivocally be associated to the Galactic nucleus, this is the first report of significant hard X-ray emission from within the inner 10′ of the Galaxy and a contribution from the Galactic supermassive black hole itself cannot be excluded.
AB - This Letter presents the first results of an observational campaign to study the Galactic center with INTEGRAL, the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory. Mosaicked images were constructed using data obtained with ISGRI, the soft gamma-ray instrument of the coded aperture IBIS imager, in the energy ranges 20-40 and 40-100 keV. These give a yet unseen view of the high-energy sources of this region in hard X-rays and gamma rays with an angular resolution of 12′ (FWHM). We report on the discovery of a source, IGR J1745.6-2901, coincident with the Galactic nucleus Sgr A* to within 0′.9. Located at R.A. = 17h45m38s.5 (J2000.0), decl. = -29°01′15″ (J2000.0), the source is visible up to about 100 keV with a 20-100 keV luminosity at 8 kpc of (2.89 ± 0.41) × 1035 ergs s-1. Although the new INTEGRAL source cannot unequivocally be associated to the Galactic nucleus, this is the first report of significant hard X-ray emission from within the inner 10′ of the Galaxy and a contribution from the Galactic supermassive black hole itself cannot be excluded.
KW - Black hole physics
KW - Galaxy: center
KW - Galaxy: nucleus
KW - Gamma rays: observations
KW - Stars: neutron
KW - X-rays: binaries
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U2 - 10.1086/381738
DO - 10.1086/381738
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:1842428741
SN - 0004-637X
VL - 601
SP - L163-L166
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
IS - 2 II
ER -