Search

The optical spectroscopic followup of 27 sources belonging to a sample of 30 high-energy objects selected by positionally cross correlating the first Fermi/LAT Catalog and the ROSAT All-Sky Survey Bright Source Catalog is presented here. It has been found or confirmed that 25 of them are BL Lacertae objects (BL Lacs), while the remaining two are Galactic cataclysmic variables (CVs). This strongly suggests that the sources in the first group are responsible for the GeV emission detected with Fermi, while the two CVs most likely represent spurious associations. We thus find an 80% a posteriori probability that the sources selected by matching GeV and X-ray catalogs belong to the BL Lac class. We also show suggestions that the BL Lacs selected with this approach are probably high-synchrotron-peaked sources and in turn good candidates for the detection of ultra-high-energy (TeV) photons from them., Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables, one appendix, accepted for publication on A&A, main journal. Tables 1-3 and Figures 2-6 will only be published in the electronic edition of the journal

We report on the identification of a new soft gamma-ray source, namely IGR J20159+3713/SWIFT J2015.9+3715, first detected by INTEGRAL/IBIS and then confirmed by Swift/BAT. The source, which has an observed 20-100 keV flux in the range (0.7-1.4) x 10^(-11) erg cm^(-2) s^(-1), encloses a Fermi variable source (2FGL J2015.6+3709) and is spatially close to a TeV emitter (VER J2016+372). Thanks to X-ray follow-up observations performed with the X-ray telescope on board Swift, we have been able to identify the new IBIS/BAT detection with the combined emission of the blazar B2013+370 and the cataclysmic variable RX J2015.6+3711. Both objects show variability in X-rays, with the CV being the most variable of the two. At high energies (above 20 keV) the emission is likely dominated by B2013+370, but the contribution from RX J2015.6+3711 is not negligible. The blazar emits up to GeV frequencies where it is seen by Fermi, while the cataclysmic variable has a bremsstrahlung temperature which is too low to provide any contribution at these high energies. These findings also indicate that the INTEGRAL/Swift source is not associated with the TeV emission, which is most likely due to the supernova remnant (SNR)/pulsar wind nebula (PWN) CTB 87., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication on A&A, main journal

Through an optical campaign performed at 4 telescopes located in the northern and the southern hemispheres, we have obtained optical spectroscopy for 75 counterparts of unclassified or poorly studied hard X-ray emitting objects detected with Swift/BAT and listed in the 54 month Palermo BAT catalogue. All these objects have also observations taken with Swift/XRT, ROSAT or Chandra satellites which allowed us to reduce the high energy error box and pinpoint the most likely optical counterpart/s. We find that 69 sources in our sample are Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs); of them, 35 are classified as type 1 (with broad and narrow emission lines), 33 are classified as type 2 (with only narrow emission lines) and one is an high redshift QSO; the remaining 6 objects are galactic cataclysmic variables (CVs). Among type 1 AGNs, 32 are objects of intermediate Seyfert type (1.2-1.9) and one is Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxy; for 29 out of 35 type 1 AGNs, we have been able to estimate the central black hole mass and the Eddington ratio. Among type 2 AGNs, two display optical features typical of the LINER class, 3 are classified as transition objects, 1 is a starburst galaxy and 2 are instead X-ray bright, optically normal galaxies. All galaxies classified in this work are relatively nearby objects (0.006 - 0.213) except for one at redshift 1.137., Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publications on Astronomy and Astrophysics, main journal. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1206.5091

This paper summarizes the development of a successful project, LAUE, supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and devoted to the development of long focal length (up to 100 m) Laue lenses for hard X--/soft gamma--ray astronomy (80-600 keV). The apparatus is ready and the assembling of a prototype lens petal is ongoing. The great achievement of this project is the use of bent crystals. From measurements obtained on single crystals and from simulations, we have estimated the expected Point Spread Function and thus the sensitivity of a lens made of petals. The expected sensitivity is a few $\times10^{-8}$ photons cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ keV$^{-1}$. We discuss a number of open astrophysical questions that can settled with such an instrument aboard a free-flying satellite., Comment: 17 pages, 18 figures, published in Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 8861, id. 886106 17 pp. (2013)

Within the framework of our program (running since 2004) of identification of hard X-ray INTEGRAL sources through optical spectroscopy, we present the results concerning the nature of 33 high-energy objects. The data were acquired with the use of six telescopes of different sizes and from one on-line archive. The results indicate that the majority of these objects (23 out of 33) are active galactic nuclei (AGNs), whereas 10 are sources in the local Universe with eight of which in the Galaxy and two in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Among the identified AGNs, 13 are of Type 1 (i.e., with broad emission lines), eight are of Type 2 (with narrow emissions only), and two are X-ray bright, optically normal galaxies with no apparent nuclear activity in the optical. Six of these AGNs lie at high redshift (z > 0.5). Concerning local objects, we found that five of them are Galactic cataclysmic variables, three are high-mass X-ray binaries (two of which lying in the SMC), one is a low-mass X-ray binary, and one is classified as a flare star that is likely of RS CVn type. The main optical properties and inferred physical characteristics of these sources are presented and discussed., Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures, 9 tables, accepted for publication on Astronomy and Astrophysics, main journal. Redshift uncertainty of IGR J16388+3557 corrected in note of Table 3; references updated

With respect to the recent INTEGRAL/IBIS 9-year Galactic Hard X-ray Survey (Krivonos et al. 2012), we use archival Swift/XRT observations in conjunction with multi-wavelength information to discuss the counterparts of a sample of newly discovered objects. The X-ray telescope (XRT, 0.3-10 keV) on board Swift, thanks to its few arcseconds source location accuracy, has been proven to be a powerful tool with which the X-ray counterparts to these IBIS sources can be searched for and studied. In this work, we present the outcome of this analysis by discussing four objects (SWIFT J0958.0-4208, SWIFT J1508.6-4953, IGR J17157-5449, and IGR J22534+6243) having either X-ray data of sufficient quality to perform a reliable spectral analysis or having interesting multiwaveband properties. We find that SWIFT J1508.6-4953 is most likely a Blazar, while IGR J22534+6243 is probably a HMXB. The remaining two objects may be contaminated by nearby X-ray sources and their class can be inferred only by means of optical follow-up observations of all likely counterparts., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Proceedings of "An INTEGRAL view of the high-energy sky (the first 10 years)" the 9th INTEGRAL Workshop, October 15-19, 2012, Paris, France, in Proceedings of Science (INTEGRAL 2012), Eds. A. Goldwurm, F. Lebrun and C. Winkler, (this http URL), id=098

The most recent all-sky surveys performed with the INTEGRAL and SWIFT satellites allowed the detection of more than 1500 sources in hard X-rays above 20 keV. About one quarter of them has no obvious counterpart at other wavelengths and therefore could not be associated with any known class of high-energy emitting objects. Although cross-correlation with catalogues or surveys at other wavelengths (especially soft X-rays) is of invaluable support in pinpointing the putative optical candidates, only accurate optical spectroscopy can reveal the true nature of these sources. With the aim of identifying them, we started in 2004 an optical spectroscopy program which uses data from several telescopes worldwide and which proved extremely successful, leading to the identification of about 200 INTEGRAL objects and nearly 130 Swift sources. Here we want to present a summary of this identification work and an outlook of our preliminary results on identification of newly-discovered sources belonging to the 4th IBIS catalog and to the 54 months Palermo Swift/BAT catalog., Comment: Proceedings of "An INTEGRAL view of the high-energy sky (the first 10 years)" the 9th INTEGRAL Workshop, October 15-19, 2012, Paris, France, in Proceedings of Science (INTEGRAL 2012), Eds. A. Goldwurm, F. Lebrun and C. Winkler, (http://pos.sissa.it/cgi-bin/reader/conf.cgi?confid=176), id 099

The determination of the broad (0.1-100 keV) spectra of active galaxies is crucial for understanding and discriminating among emission models, for estimating the properties of the Comptonising/reflecting region around the central black hole and for obtaining a firm description of the contribution of AGN to the Cosmic X-ray Background. Although broad-band X-ray measurements of AGN have been made in the past, these did not generally pertain to a complete sample of sources. Since few years, we have started a systematic analysis of the 0.1-100 keV spectra of a complete sample of AGN selected in the hard X-ray band (20-40 keV) using low energy data (not always of good quality) from a set of operating X-ray telescopes. Thanks to data obtained through an XMM-Newton Large Programme, we have now high quality 0.1-10 keV data for all sources in the sample; these combined with high energy observations from INTEGRAL/IBIS and Swift/BAT will allow us to study the spectral properties of this complete sample. Here in particular, we report the progress made on type 1 AGN, focusing in particular on the continuum and its high energy cut-off, the reflection fraction, the absorption properties and the presence of soft excesses and warm absorbers in our sources. More specifically we discuss the broad-band properties of 4 sources IGR J00333+6122, Swift J0917.2-6221, GRS 1734-292 and NGC 6814, which can be considered as the most representative objects of our sample., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Proceedings of "An INTEGRAL view of the high-energy sky (the first 10 years)" the 9th INTEGRAL Workshop, October 15-19, 2012, Paris, France, in Proceedings of Science (INTEGRAL 2012), Eds. A. Goldwurm, F. Lebrun and C. Winkler, (http://pos.sissa.it/cgi-bin/reader/conf.cgi?confid=176), id=073

Through an optical campaign performed at 4 telescopes located in the northern and the southern hemispheres, plus archival data from two on-line sky surveys, we have obtained optical spectroscopy for 29 counterparts of unclassified or poorly studied hard X-ray emitting objects detected with Swift/BAT and listed in the 39 months Palermo catalogue. All these objects have also observations taken with Swift/XRT or XMM-EPIC which not only allow us to pinpoint their optical counterpart, but also to study their X-ray spectral properties (column density, power law photon index and F2-10 keV flux). We find that 28 sources in our sample are AGN; 7 are classified as type 1 while 21 are of type 2; the remaining object is a galactic cataclysmic variable. Among our type 1 AGN, we find 5 objects of intermediate Seyfert type (1.2-1.9) and one Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxy; for 4 out of 7 sources, we have been able to estimate the central black hole mass. Three of the type 2 AGN of our sample display optical features typical of the LINER class and one is a likely Compton thick AGN. All galaxies classified in this work are relatively nearby objects since their redshifts lie in the range 0.008-0.075; the only galactic object found lies at an estimated distance of 90 pc. We have also investigated the optical versus X-ray emission ratio of the galaxies of our sample to test the AGN unified model. For them, we have also compared the X-ray absorption (due to gas) with the optical reddening (due to dust): we find that for most of our sources, specifically those of type 1.9-2.0 the former is higher than the latter confirming early results by Maiolino et al. (2001); this is possibly due to the properties of dust in the circumnuclear obscuring torus of the AGN., Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 8 tables, accepted for publication on Astronomy and Astrophysics

We report on the identification of a new soft gamma-ray source, IGR J12319-0749, detected with the IBIS imager on board the INTEGRAL satellite. The source, which has an observed 20-100 keV flux of ~8.3 x 10^{-12} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1}, is spatially coincident with an AGN at redshift z=3.12. The broad-band continuum, obtained by combining XRT and IBIS data, is flat (Gamma ~ 1.3) with evidence for a spectral break around 25 keV (100 keV in the source rest frame). X-ray observations indicate flux variability which is further supported by a comparison with a previous ROSAT measurement. IGR J12319-0749 is also a radio emitting object likely characterized by a flat spectrum and high radio loudness; optically it is a broad-line emitting object with a massive black hole (2.8 x 10^{9}$ solar masses) at its center. The source Spectral Energy Distribution is similar to another high redshift blazar, 225155+2217 at z=3.668: both objects are bright, with a large accretion disk luminosity and a Compton peak located in the hard X-ray/soft gamma-ray band. IGR J12319-0749 is likely the second most distant blazar detected so far by INTEGRAL., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in A&A

Presented in this work is the most comprehensive INTEGRAL AGN sample: it includes 272 active galaxies for which optical identifications and redshifts are available. 2-10 keV fluxes and column density measurements are also collected for all the sample sources. For 33 new hard X-ray discovered AGN with no previous X-ray coverage, XRT and XMM data analysis is reported for the first time in this work. Examples of future studies which are being developed using this large X-ray selected sample are presented together with some early results., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. To appear in: proceedings of the INTEGRAL conference "The Extreme and Variable High Energy Sky", held on September 19-23, 2011 in Chia Laguna, Cagliari, Italy; Proceedings of Science, SISSA, in press

In this paper we report on the broadband X-ray properties of a complete sample of 33 absorbed Seyfert galaxies hard X-ray selected with integral. The high quality broadband spectra obtained with both xmm, and integral-IBIS data are well reproduced with an absorbed primary emission with a high energy cutoff and its scattered fraction below 2-3 keV, plus the Compton reflection features. A high energy cut-off is found in 30% of the sample, with an average value below 150 keV. The diagnostic plot NH vs Fobs(2-10 keV)/F(20-100 keV) allowed the isolation of the Compton thick objects, and may represent a useful tool for future hard X-ray observations of newly discovered AGN. We are unable to associate the reflection components with the absorbing gas as a torus, a more complex scenario being necessary. In the Compton thin sources, a fraction (but not all) of the Fe K line needs to be produced in a gas possibly associated with the optical Broad Line Region, responsible also for the absorption. We still need a Compton thick medium (not intercepting the line of sight) likely associated to a torus, which contributes to the Fe line intensity and produces the observed reflection continuum above 10 keV. The so-called Iwasawa-Taniguchi effect can not be confirmed with our data. Finally, the comparison with a sample of unobscured AGN shows that, type 1 and type 2 (once corrected for absorption) Seyfert are characterized by the same nuclear/accretion properties (luminosity, bolometric luminosity, Eddington ratio), supporting the "unified" view., Comment: talk at the conference "The Extreme and Variable High Energy Sky", September 19-23, 2011, Chia Laguna, Sardegna (Italy). 7 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication on PoS(Extremesky 2011)045

Since its launch on October 2002, the INTEGRAL satellite has revolutionized our knowledge of the hard X-ray sky thanks to its unprecedented imaging capabilities and source detection positional accuracy above 20 keV. Nevertheless, many of the newly-detected sources in the INTEGRAL sky surveys are of unknown nature. The combined use of available information at longer wavelengths (mainly soft X-rays and radio) and of optical spectroscopy on the putative counterparts of these new hard X-ray objects allows pinpointing their exact nature. Continuing our long-standing program running since 2004, here we report the classification, through optical spectroscopy, of 19 more unidentified or poorly studied high-energy sources detected with the IBIS instrument onboard INTEGRAL., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, 1 table. To appear in: proceedings of the INTEGRAL conference "The Extreme and Variable High Energy Sky", held on September 19-23, 2011 in Chia Laguna, Cagliari, Italy; Proceedings of Science, SISSA, in press, PoS(estremesky2011)074

We report the results from an archival XMM-Newton observation of the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient (SFXT) IGR J18483-0311 during its apastron passage. The measured 0.5--10 keV luminosity state (1.3$\times10^{33}$ erg s$^{-1}$) is the lowest ever reported in the literature, it is best fitted by an absorbed black body model yielding parameters consistent with previous measurements. In addition, we find evidence of an emission line feature at $\sim$3.3 keV in the 0.5--10 keV EPIC-pn source spectrum. We show that its physical explanation in terms of atomic emission line appears unlikely and conversely we attempt to ascribe it to an electron cyclotron emission line which would implies a neutron star magnetic field of the order of $\sim3\times10^{11}$ G. A possible hint of the first harmonic is also found. If firmly confirmed by future longer X-ray observations, this would be the first detection ever of a cyclotron feature in the X-ray spectrum of a SFXT, with important implications on theoretical models., Comment: Contributed talk to appear in the proceedings of the "8th INTEGRAL Workshop - The Restless Gamma-ray Universe", held in Dublin on 27-30 September 2010; PoS(INTEGRAL 2010)049

We report on a new method to identify Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) among unidentified INTEGRAL sources. This method consists of cross-correlating unidentified sources listed in the fourth IBIS Survey Catalogue first with infrared and then with radio catalogues and a posteriori verifying, by means of X-ray and optical follow up observations, the likelihood of these associations. In order to test this method, a sample of 8 sources has been extracted from the fourth IBIS Catalogue. For 7 sources of the sample we obtained an identification, whereas the last one (IGR J03103+5706) has insufficient information for a clear classification and deserves more in-depth study. We identified three objects (IGR J08190-3835, IGR J17520-6018, IGR J21441+4640) as AGNs and suggest that three more (IGR J00556+7708, IGRJ17219-1509, IGR J21268+6203) are likely active galaxies on the basis of their radio spectra, near-infrared photometry and location above the Galaxy plane. One source (IGR J05583-1257) has been classified as a starburst galaxy but it might have been spuriously associated with the INTEGRAL detection., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 6 tables; accepted for publication on MNRAS

The unidentified source IGR J16328-4726 was covered with INTEGRAL observations for a long period (~9.8Ms) and was undetectable for most of the time while showing a very recurrent micro-activity with a duration from tens minutes to several hours. We report the discovery of two strong outbursts started at 53420.65 MJD and 54859.99 MJD respectively, the first with a duration of ~1 hour and the second with a lower limit on the duration of ~3.5 hours. Furthermore, the source have been detected in nine other short pointings with significance between 4 and 5 sigma as well as in a one of the revolution (during the exposure ~ 130 ks) at a significance level of ~7 sigma. The stronger outburst spectrum is well described by a power law model with a photon index of ~2.0 and a flux of ~3.3x10^{-10} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1} in the 20-50 keV energy band. The weaker outburst and revolution spectra show the same spectral shape and different fluxes. The combined timing and spectral properties observed during the outburst, the recurrent nature of this transient source, the Galactic Plane location, a dynamic range >170 in the 0.3-10 keV band and >165 in the 20-50 keV and the presence of a IR star in the error circle of an XRT/Swift pointing are suggesting this source as a member of the class of the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients.

Since its launch on October 2002, the INTEGRAL satellite has revolutionized our knowledge of the hard X-ray sky thanks to its unprecedented imaging capabilities and source detection positional accuracy above 20 keV. Nevertheless, many of the newly-detected sources in the INTEGRAL sky surveys are of unknown nature. However, the combined use of available information at longer wavelengths (mainly soft X-rays and radio) and of optical spectroscopy on the putative counterparts of these new hard X-ray objects allows pinpointing their exact nature. Continuing our long-standing program running since 2004 (and with which we identified more than 100 INTEGRAL objects) here we report the classification, through optical spectroscopy, of 25 unidentified high-energy sources mostly belonging to the recently published 4th IBIS survey., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, 1 table; accepted for publication in the Proceedings of HEPRO-II Conference (International Journal of Modern Physics D, in press; eds. G.E. Romero, F.A. Aharonian and J.M. Paredes)

Using data collected with the BeppoSAX, INTEGRAL and Swift satellites, we report and discuss the results of a study on the X-ray emission properties of the X-ray source 1ES 1210-646, recently classified as a high-mass X-ray binary through optical spectroscopy. This is the first in-depth analysis of the X-ray spectral characteristics of this source. We found that the flux of 1ES 1210-646 varies by a factor of about 3 on a timescale of hundreds of seconds and by a factor of at least 10 among observations acquired over a time span of several months. The X-ray spectrum of 1ES 1210-646 is described using a simple powerlaw shape or, in the case of INTEGRAL data, with a blackbody plus powerlaw model. Spectral variability is found in connection with different flux levels of the source. A strong and transient iron emission line with an energy of about 6.7 keV and an equivalent width of about 1.6 keV is detected when the source is found at an intermediate flux level. The line strength seems to be tied to the orbital motion of the accreting object, as this feature is only apparent at the periastron. Although the X-ray spectral description we find for the 1ES 1210-646 emission is quite atypical for a high-mass X-ray binary, the multiwavelegth information available for this object leads us to confirm this classification. The results presented here allow us instead to definitely rule out the possibility that 1ES 1210-646 is a (magnetic) cataclysmic variable as proposed previously and, in a broader sense, a white dwarf nature for the accretor is disfavoured. X-ray spectroscopic data actually suggest a neutron star with a low magnetic field as the accreting object in this system., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication on Astronomy and Astrophysics, main journal

(abridged) Hard X-ray surveys performed by the INTEGRAL satellite have discovered a conspicuous fraction (up to 30%) of unidentified objects among the detected sources. Here we continue our identification program by selecting probable optical candidates using positional cross-correlation with soft X-ray, radio, and/or optical archives, and performing optical spectroscopy on them. As a result, we identified or more accurately characterized 44 counterparts of INTEGRAL sources: 32 active galactic nuclei, with redshift 0.019 < z < 0.6058, 6 cataclysmic variables (CVs), 5 high-mass X-ray binaries (2 of which in the Small Magellanic Cloud), and 1 low-mass X-ray binary. This was achieved by using 7 telescopes of various sizes and archival data from two online spectroscopic surveys. The main physical parameters of these hard X-ray sources were also determined using the available multiwavelength information. AGNs are the most abundant population among hard X-ray objects, and our results confirm this tendency when optical spectroscopy is used as an identification tool. The deeper sensitivity of recent INTEGRAL surveys enables one to begin detecting hard X-ray emission above 20 keV from sources such as LINER-type AGNs and non-magnetic CVs., Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication on A&A, main journal

The IBIS imager on board INTEGRAL, with a sensitivity better than a mCrab in deep observations and a point source location accuracy of the order of few arcminutes, has localized so far 723 hard X-ray sources in the 17--100 keV energy band, of which a fraction of about 1/3 are still unclassified. The aim of this research is to provide sub-arcsecond localizations of the unidentified sources, necessary to pinpoint the optical and/or infrared counterpart of those objects whose nature is so far unknown. The cross-correlation between the new IBIS sources published within the fourth INTEGRAL/IBIS Survey catalogue and the CHANDRA/ACIS data archive resulted in a sample of 5 not yet identified objects. We present here the results of CHANDRA X-ray Observatory observations of these five hard X-ray sources discovered by the INTEGRAL satellite. We associated IGR J10447-6027 with IR source 2MASSJ10445192-6025115, IGR J16377-6423 with the cluster CIZA J1638.2-6420, IGR J14193-6048 with the pulsar with nebula PSR J1420-6048 and IGR J12562+2554 with the Quasar SDSSJ125610.42+260103.5. We suggest that the counterpart of IGR J12288+0052 may be an AGN/QSO type~2 at a confidence level of 90%., Comment: ApJ accepted

Many sources listed in the 4th IBIS/ISGRI survey are still unidentified, i.e. lacking an X-ray counterpart or simply not studied at lower energies (< 10 keV). The cross-correlation between the list of IBIS sources in the 4th catalogue and the Swift/XRT data archive is of key importance to search for the X-ray counterparts; in fact, the positional accuracy of few arcseconds obtained with XRT allows us to perform more efficient and reliable follow-up observations at other wavelengths (optical, UV, radio). In this work, we present the results of the XRT observations for four new gamma-ray sources: IGR J12123-5802, IGR J1248.2-5828, IGR J13107-5626 and IGR J14080-3023. For IGR J12123-5802 we find a likely counterpart, but further information are needed to classified this object, IGR J1248.2-5828 is found to be a Seyfert 1.9, for IGR J13107-5626 we suggest a possible AGN nature, while IGR J14080-3023 is classified as a Seyfert 1.5 galaxy., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure and 2 tables. Accepted for publication on PoS (contribution PoS(extremesky2009)018), proceedings of "The Extreme sky: Sampling the Universe above 10 keV", held in Otranto (Italy), 13-17 October 2009

We study the NH distribution in a complete sample of 88 AGN selected in the 20-40 keV band from INTEGRAL/IBIS observations. We find that the fraction of absorbed (NH > 10^22 cm^-2) sources is 43% while Compton thick AGN comprise 7% of the sample. While these estimates are fully compatible with previous soft gamma-ray surveys, they would appear to be in contrast with results reported from an optically selected sample. This apparent difference can be explained as being due to a selection bias caused by the reduction in high energy flux in Compton thick objects rendering them invisible at our sensitivity limit. Taking this into account we estimate that the fraction of highly absorbed sources is actually in close agreement with the optically selected sample. Furthermore we show that the measured fraction of absorbed sources in our sample decreases from 80% to ~20-30% as a function of redshift with all Compton thick AGN having z<0.015. We conclude that in the low redshift bin we are seeing almost the entire AGN population, from unabsorbed to at least mildly Compton thick objects, while in the total sample we lose the heavily absorbed 'counterparts' of distant and therefore dim sources with little or no absorption. Taking therefore this low z bin as the only one able to provide the 'true' distribution of absorption in type 1 and 2 AGN, we estimate the fraction of Compton thick objects to be >24%, Comment: Comments: 8 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication on PoS (contribution PoS(extremesky2009)012), proceedings of "The Extreme sky: Sampling the Universe above 10 keV", held in Otranto (Italy), 13-17 October 2009

Through an optical campaign performed at 5 telescopes located in the northern and the southern hemispheres, plus archival data from two on line sky surveys, we have obtained optical spectroscopy for 17 counterparts of suspected or poorly studied hard X-ray emitting active galactic nuclei (AGNs) detected with Swift/BAT in order to determine or better classify their nature. We find that 7 sources of our sample are Type 1 AGNs, 9 are Type 2 AGNs, and 1 object is an X-ray bright optically normal galaxy; the redshifts of these objects lie in a range between 0.012 and 0.286. For all these sources, X-ray data analysis was also performed to estimate their absorption column and to search for possible Compton thick candidates. Among our type 2 objects, we did not find any clear Compton thick AGN, but at least 6 out of 9 of them are highly absorbed (N_H > 10^23 cm^-2), while one does not require intrinsic absorption; i.e., it appears to be a naked Seyfert 2 galaxy., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication on Astronomy & Astrophysics, main journal. The name of the source Swift J0519.5-3140 corrected with Swift J0501.9-3239

The 4th IBIS/ISGRI survey lists 723 hard X-ray sources many still unidentified. We cross-correlated the list of the sources included in the 4th IBIS catalogue with the Swift/XRT data archive, finding a sample of 20 objects for which XRT data could help in the search for the X-ray and hence optical counterpart and/or in the study of the source spectral and variability properties below 10 keV. Four objects (IGR J00465-4005, LEDA 96373, IGR J1248.2-5828 and IGR J13107-5626) are confirmed or likely absorbed active galaxies, while two (IGR J14080-3023 and 1RXS J213944.3+595016) are unabsorbed AGN. We find three peculiar extragalactic objects, NGC 4728 being a Narrow Line Seyfert galaxy, MCG+04-26-006 a type 2 LINER and PKS 1143-693 probably a QSO; furthermore, our results indicate that IGR J08262+4051 and IGR J22234-4116 are candidate AGN, which require further optical spectroscopic follow-up observations to be fully classified. In the case of 1RXS J080114.6-462324 we are confident that the source is a Galactic object. For IGR J10447-6027, IGR J12123-5802 and IGR J20569+4940 we pinpoint one X-ray counterpart, although its nature could not be assessed despite spectral and sometimes variability information being obtained. Clearly, we need to perform optical follow-up observations in order to firmly assess their nature. There are five objects for which we find no obvious X-ray counterpart (IGR J07506-1547 and IGR J17008-6425) or even no detection (IGR J17331-2406, IGR J18134-1636 and IGR J18175-1530); apart from IGR J18134-1636, all these sources are found to be variable in the IBIS energy band, therefore it is difficult to catch them even in X-rays., Comment: 17 pages, including 20 figures and 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Hard X-ray surveys have proven remarkably efficient in detecting intermediate polars and asynchronous polars, two of the rarest type of cataclysmic variable (CV). Here we present a global study of hard X-ray selected intermediate polars and asynchronous polars, focusing particularly on the link between hard X-ray properties and spin/orbital periods. To this end, we first construct a new sample of these objects by cross-correlating candidate sources detected in INTEGRAL/IBIS observations against catalogues of known CVs. We find 23 cataclysmic variable matches, and also present an additional 9 (of which 3 are definite) likely magnetic cataclysmic variables (mCVs) identified by others through optical follow-ups of IBIS detections. We also include in our analysis hard X-ray observations from Swift/BAT and SUZAKU/HXD in order to make our study more complete. We find that most hard X-ray detected mCVs have P_{spin}/P_{orb}<0.1 above the period gap. In this respect we also point out the very low number of detected systems in any band between P_{spin}/P_{orb}=0.3 and P_{spin}/P_{orb}=1 and the apparent peak of the P_{spin}/P_{orb} distribution at about 0.1. The observational features of the P_{spin} - P_{orb} plane are discussed in the context of mCV evolution scenarios. We also present for the first time evidence for correlations between hard X-ray spectral hardness and P_{spin}, P_{orb} and P_{spin}/P_{orb}. An attempt to explain the observed correlations is made in the context of mCV evolution and accretion footprint geometries on the white dwarf surface., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures and 3 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

In this letter we present the result of the cross correlation between the 4th INTEGRAL/IBIS soft gamma-ray catalog, in the range 20-100 keV, and the Fermi LAT bright source list of objects emitting in the 100 MeV - 100 GeV range. The main result is that only a minuscule part of the more than 720 sources detected by INTEGRAL and the population of 205 Fermi LAT sources are detected in both spectral regimes. This is in spite of the mCrab INTEGRAL sensitivity for both galactic and extragalactic sources and the breakthrough, in terms of sensitivity, achieved by Fermi at MeV-GeV energies. The majority of the 14 Fermi LAT sources clearly detected in the 4th INTEGRAL/IBIS catalog are optically identified AGNs (10) complemented by 2 isolated pulsars (Crab and Vela) and 2 High Mass X-Ray Binaries (HMXB, LS I +61 303 and LS 5039). Two more possible associations have been found: one is 0FGL J1045.6-5937, possibly the counterpart at high energy of the massive colliding wind binary system Eta Carinae, discovered to be a soft gamma ray emitter by recent INTEGRAL observations and 0FGL J1746.0-2900 coincident with IGR J17459-2902, but still not identified with any known object at lower energy. For the remaining 189 Fermi LAT sources no INTEGRAL counterpart was found and we report the 2 sigma upper limit in the energy band 20-40 keV., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL, 3 figures, 2 tables

We study the NH distribution in a complete sample of 88 AGN selected in the 20-40 keV band from INTEGRAL/IBIS observations. We find that the fraction of absorbed (NH > 10^{22} cm^2) sources is 43% while the Compton thick AGN comprise 7% of the sample. While these estimates are fully compatible with previous soft gamma-ray surveys, they would appear to be in contrast with results reported by Risaliti et al. (1999) using an optically selected sample. This apparent difference can be explained as being due to a selection bias caused by the reduction in high energy flux in Compton thick objects rendering them invisible at our sensitivity limit. Taking this into account we estimate that the fraction of highly absorbed sources is actually in close agreement with the optically selected sample. Furthermore we show that the measured fraction of absorbed sources in our sample decreases from 80% to about 20-30% as a function of redshift with all Compton thick AGN having z < 0.015. If we limit our analysis to this distance and compare only the type 2 objects in our sample with the Risaliti et al. objects below this redshift value, we find a perfect match to their NH distribution. We conclude that in the low redshift bin we are seeing almost the entire AGN population, from unabsorbed to at least mildly Compton thick objects, while in the total sample we lose the heavily absorbed 'counterparts' of distant and therefore dim sources with little or no absorption. Taking therefore this low z bin as the only one able to provide the 'true' distribution of absorption in type 1 and 2 AGN, we estimate the fraction of Compton thick objects to be >24%., Comment: 8 pages, accepted for publication on MNRAS main journal

In this paper we discuss the broad-band X-ray characteristics of a complete sample of 36 type 1 AGN, detected by INTEGRAL in the 20-40 keV band above the 5.5sigma level. We present, for all the objects in the sample, the broad-band (1-110 keV) spectral analysis obtained by using INTEGRAL/Swift-BAT observations together with XMM-Newton, Chandra, ASCA and Swift/XRT data. We also present the general average properties of the sample, i.e. the distribution of photon indices, high energy cut-offs, reflection fractions and absorption properties, together with an in-depth analysis of their parameter space. We find that the average Seyfert 1 power law has an index of 1.7 with a dispersion of 0.2. The mean cut-off energy is at around 100 keV, with most objects displaying Ec in the range 50-150 keV; the average amount of Compton reflection is 1.5 with a typical dispersion of 0.7. We do not find any convincing correlation between the various parameters, an indication that our analysis is not strongly dependent by the interplay between them. Finally, we investigate how the results presented in this work fit into current frameworks for AGN spectral modeling and Cosmic Diffuse X-ray Background synthesis models., Comment: 15 pages, 17 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication on MNRAS

Hawkins (2004) reported on a class of "naked" AGN characterized by strong amplitude optical brightness variability and the complete absence of broad emission lines in the optical spectrum. The variability suggests that the nucleus is seen directly, however the absence of broad lines contradicts the simple formulation of Unified Models for AGN. We present the results of quasi-simultaneous spectroscopic observations with XMM-Newton and NTT (La Silla) of two "naked" AGN. We confirm the "naked" nature of Q2131-427 for which no broad emission line components have been detected in the optical spectrum and its X-ray spectrum shows no signs of intrinsic absorption. The optical and X-ray mismatch in this source cannot be ascribed to a high nuclear dust-to-gas ratio and a Compton Thick nature is ruled out on the basis of the high F(X)/F([OIII]) ratio. The Broad Line Region (BLR) may be completely absent in this source, possibly as a consequence of its low Eddington ratio. On the other hand, the optical spectrum of Q2130-431 shows H(alpha) and H(beta) broad emission line components, revealing the presence of a BLR. A mild X-ray absorption is expected in intermediate type 1.8 Seyfert galaxies like Q2130-431, however we put a very low upper limit on the column density (< 2 x 10^(20) cm^(-2)), also the low Balmer decrement suggests that the BLR itself does not suffer from reddening. We propose that in this object the BLR is intrinsically weak, making a case of "true" intermediate Seyfert galaxy. We also report on the X-ray detection of the Abell 3783 galaxy cluster in the XMM-Newton field-of-view of the Q2131-427 observation., Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We report on the identification of the gamma-ray source 0FGL J20001.0+4352 listed in the Fermi bright source catalogue. This object, which has an observed 1-100 GeV flux of (7.8 +/- 1.2) x 10^{-9} ph cm^{-2} s^{-1} and is located close to the Galactic plane, is not associated with any previously known high energy source. We use archival XMM-Newton and Swift/XRT data to localise with arcsec accuracy the X-ray counterpart of this GeV emitter and to characterise its X-ray properties: the source is bright (the 0.2-12 keV flux is 1.9 x 10^{-12} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1}), variable (by a factor of ~2) and with a steep power law spectrum (Gamma = 2.7). It coincides with a radio bright (~200 mJy at 8.4 GHz) and flat spectrum object (MG4 J200112+4352 in NED). Broad-band optical photometry of this source suggests variability also in this waveband, while a spectroscopic follow-up observation provides the first source classification as a BL Lac object. The source SED, as well as the overall characteristics and optical classification, point to a high frequency peaked blazar identification for 0FGL J2001.0+4352., Comment: 5 pages, 2 tables, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters

3EG J1837-0423 and HESS J1841-055 are two unidentified and peculiar high-energy sources located in the same region of the sky, separated by 1.4 deg. Specifically, 3EG J1837-0423 is a transient MeV object detected by EGRET only once during flaring activity that lasted a few days while HESS J1841-055 is a highly extended TeV source. We attempted to match the high-energy emission from the unidentified sources 3EG J1837-0423 and HESS J1841-055 with X-rays (4-20 keV) and soft gamma-rays (20-100 keV) candidate counterparts detected through deep INTEGRAL observations of the sky region. As a result we propose the SFXT AX J1841.0-0536 as a possible candidate counterpart of 3EG J1837-0423, based on spatial proximity and transient behavior. Alternatively, AX J1841.0-0536 could be responsible for at least a fraction of the entire TeV emission from the extended source HESS J1841-055, based on a striking spatial correlation. In either case, the proposed association is also supported from an energetic standpoint by a theoretical scenario where AX J1841.0-0536 is a low magnetized pulsar which, due to accretion of massive clumps from the supergiant companion donor star, undergoes sporadic changes to transient Atoll-states where a magnetic tower can produce transient jets and as a consequence high-energy emission. In either case (by association with 3EG J1837-0423 or alternatively with HESS J1841-055), AX J1841.0-0536 might be the prototype of a new class of Galactic transient MeV/TeV emitters., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 30 pages, 5 figures

We report on the identification of the X/soft gamma-ray source AX J183039-1002 detected with ASCA and INTEGRAL/IBIS. The source, which has an observed 20-100 keV flux of about 8.6 x 10^-11 erg/cm^2/s, is inside a diffuse radio supernova remnant (SNR) and is spatially coincident with a compact radio source. We analyzed archival Chandra and XMM-Newton observations in order to identify the ASCA/INTEGRAL source. A point-like Chandra X-ray object was found to be positionally coincident with the compact radio source and within the error circle of the ASCA and INTEGRAL sources. Although the association of a compact radio/X-ray source with a radio supernova remnant could be indicative of a pulsar wind nebula (PWN), the XMM-Newton X-ray spectrum is compatible with an absorbed, Seyfert-2 like AGN, since it provides evidence for an iron emission line of about 1 keV equivalent width; furthermore the X-ray source spectrum is similar to that of other Compton thick AGN where the <2 keV data are associated to a warm reflector and the >10 keV one to a cold reflector., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

IGR J16351-5806 has been associated with the Seyfert 2 galaxy ESO 137-G34, having been first reported as a high energy emitter in the third INTEGRAL/IBIS survey. Using a new diagnostic tool based on X-ray column density measurements vs softness ratios, Malizia et al. (2007) identified this source as a candidate Compton thick AGN. In the present work we have analysed combined XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL data of IGR J16351-5806 in order to study its broad band spectrum and investigate its Compton thick nature. The prominent K_alpha fluorescence line around 6.4 keV (EW > 1 keV) together with a flat 2-10 keV spectrum immediately point to a highly obscured source. The overall spectrum can be interpreted in terms of a transmission scenario where some of the high energy radiation is able to penetrate through the thick absorption but a good fit is also obtained using a pure reflection spectrum. An alternative possibility is that of a complex absorption, where two layers of absorbing matter each partially covering the central nucleus are present in IGR J16351-5806. All three scenarios are compatible from a statistical viewpoint and provide reasonable AGN spectral parameters; more importantly all point to a source with an absorbing column greater than 1.5 x 10^24 cm^-2, i.e. to a Compton thick AGN. Because of this heavy obscuration, some extra components which would otherwise be hidden are able to emerge at low energies and can be studied. By providing strong evidence for the Compton thick nature of IGR J16351-5806, we indirectly confirm the validity of the Malizia et al. diagnostic diagram., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for pubblication in MNRAS Letters

Within the framework of our program of assessment of the nature of unidentified or poorly known INTEGRAL sources, we present here spectroscopy of optical objects, selected through positional cross-correlation with soft X-ray detections (afforded with satellites such as Swift, ROSAT, Chandra and/or XMM-Newton) as putative counterparts of hard X-ray sources detected with the IBIS instrument onboard INTEGRAL. Using 6 telescopes of various sizes and archival data from two on-line spectroscopic surveys we are able to identify, either for the first time or independent of other groups, the nature of 20 INTEGRAL hard X-ray sources. Our results indicate that: 11 of these objects are active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at redshifts between 0.014 and 0.978, 7 of which display broad emission lines, 2 show narrow emission lines only, and 2 have unremarkable or no emission lines (thus are likely Compton thick AGNs); 5 are cataclysmic variables (CVs), 4 of which are (possibly magnetic) dwarf novae and one is a symbiotic star; and 4 are Galactic X-ray binaries (3 with high-mass companions and one with a low-mass secondary). It is thus again found that the majority of these sources are AGNs or magnetic CVs, confirming our previous findings. When possible, the main physical parameters for these hard X-ray sources are also computed using the multiwavelength information available in the literature. These identifications support the importance of INTEGRAL in the study of the hard X-ray spectrum of all classes of X-ray emitting objects, and the effectiveness of a strategy of multi-catalogue cross-correlation plus optical spectroscopy to securely pinpoint the actual nature of unidentified hard X-ray sources., Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication on Astronomy & Astrophysics, main journal. Slight changes made to match the proof-corrected version; references added