The AGILE satellite detected transient high-energy γ-ray emission from the X-ray binary V404 Cygni, during the 2015 June outburst observed in radio, optical, X-ray, and soft γ-ray frequencies. The ...activity was observed by AGILE in the 50-400 MeV energy band, between 2015 June 24 UT 06:00:00 and 2015 June 26 UT 06:00:00 (MJD 57197.25-57199.25), with a detection significance of ∼4.3 . The γ-ray detection, consistent with a contemporaneous observation by Fermi-LAT, is correlated with a bright flare observed at radio and hard X-ray frequencies, and with a strong enhancement of the 511 keV line emission, possibly indicating plasmoid ejections in a lepton-dominated transient jet. The AGILE observations of this binary system are compatible with a microquasar scenario in which transient jets are responsible for the high-energy γ-ray emission.
MWC 656 is the first known Be/black hole (BH) binary system. Be/BH binaries are important in the context of binary system evolution and sources of detectable gravitational waves because they are ...possible precursors of coalescing neutron star/BH binaries. X-ray observations conducted in 2013 revealed that MWC 656 is a quiescent high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB), opening the possibility to explore X-ray/radio correlations and the accretion/ejection coupling down to low luminosities for BH HMXBs. Here we report on a deep joint Chandra/VLA observation of MWC 656 (and contemporaneous optical data) conducted in 2015 July that has allowed us to unambiguously identify the X-ray counterpart of the source. The X-ray spectrum can be fitted with a power law with Γ ∼ 2, providing a flux of 4 × 10−15 erg cm−2 s−1 in the 0.5-8 keV energy range and a luminosity of LX 3 × 1030 erg s−1 at a 2.6 kpc distance. For a 5 M BH this translates into 5 × 10−9 LEdd. These results imply that MWC 656 is about 7 times fainter in X-rays than it was two years before and reaches the faintest X-ray luminosities ever detected in stellar-mass BHs. The radio data provide a detection with a peak flux density of 3.5 1.1 Jy beam−1. The obtained X-ray/radio luminosities for this quiescent BH HMXB are fully compatible with those of the X-ray/radio correlations derived from quiescent BH low-mass X-ray binaries. These results show that the accretion/ejection coupling in stellar-mass BHs is independent of the nature of the donor star.
We conducted an observational campaign towards one of the most massive and luminous colliding wind binaries in the Galaxy, HD 93129A, close to its periastron passage in 2018. During this time the ...source was predicted to be in its maximum of high-energy emission. Here we present our data analysis from the X-ray satellites Chandra and NuSTAR and the γ-ray satellite AGILE. High-energy emission coincident with HD 93129A was detected in the X-ray band up to 18 keV, whereas in the γ-ray band only upper limits were obtained. We interpret the derived fluxes using a non-thermal radiative model for the wind-collision region. We establish a conservative upper limit for the fraction of the wind kinetic power that is converted into relativistic electron acceleration, f(NT,e) < 0.02. In addition, we set a lower limit for the magnetic field in the wind-collision region as BWCR > 0.3 G. We also argue a putative interpretation of the emission from which we estimate f(NT,e) ≈ 0.006 and B(WCR) ≈ 0.5 G. We conclude that multi-wavelength, dedicated observing campaigns during carefully selected epochs are a powerful tool for characterising the relativistic particle content and magnetic field intensity in colliding wind binaries.
The search in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) for supermassive binary systems with total mass M ∼ 108-109 M is intertwined with the observational efforts aimed at their contributions to the stochastic ...background of gravitational waves (GWs). Here we discuss and compare two classes of AGNs that are outstanding in electromagnetic bands: bright, relatively distant and massive quasars, and closer jetted and less massive BL Lac objects (BL Lacs). Among the latter, we focus on the source PG 1553+113 at redshift z 0.5, one of the best periodic candidates so far, that features a five-fold repetitive pattern of period P = 2.2 yr recurring in its gamma-ray light curve, as continuously monitored by Fermi-LAT for over 9 yr and updated here to 2018 March 15. We discuss this object as an interesting candidate for hosting a supermassive binary source of GWs, and explore the possible contributions to the GW stochastic background from it and similar sources in the BL Lac class. We find the possible contributions of such sources to lie below the limits set by the current Pulsar Timing Arrays, but well within the reach of the upcoming Square Kilometer Array.
Aims. Despite recent progress in the field, there are still many open questions regarding γ-ray binaries. In this paper we provide an overview of non-transient γ-ray binaries and discuss how ...observations with the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will contribute to their study. Methods. We simulated the spectral behaviour of the non-transient γ-ray binaries using archival observations as a reference. With this we tested the CTA capability to measure the spectral parameters of the sources and detect variability on various timescales. Results. We review the known properties of γ-ray binaries and the theoretical models that have been used to describe their spectral and timing characteristics. We show that the CTA is capable of studying these sources on timescales comparable to their characteristic variability timescales. For most of the binaries, the unprecedented sensitivity of the CTA will allow studying the spectral evolution on a timescale as short as 30 min. This will enable a direct comparison of the TeV and lower energy (radio to GeV) properties of these sources from simultaneous observations. We also review the source-specific questions that can be addressed with these high-accuracy CTA measurements.
Context. Flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) can suffer strong absorption above E = 25∕(1 + z) GeV, due to gamma–gamma interaction if the emitting region is at sub-parsec scale from the super-massive ...black hole (SMBH). Aims. Gamma-ray flares from these astrophysical sources can be used to investigate the location of the high-energy emission region and the physics of the radiating processes. Methods. We present an episode of remarkable gamma-ray flaring activity from FSRQ PKS 2023-07 during April 2016, as detected by both the AGILE and Fermi satellites. An intensive multiwavelength campaign, triggered by Swift, covered the entire duration of the flaring activity, including the peak gamma-ray activity. Results. We report the results of multiwavelength observations of the blazar. We found that during the peak emission, the most energetic photon had an energy of 44 GeV, putting strong constraints on the opacity of the gamma-ray dissipation region. The overall spectral energy distribution (SED) is interpreted in terms of leptonic models for blazar jets, with the emission site located beyond the broad line region (BLR).
MWC 656 (=HD 215227) was recently discovered to be the first binary system composed of a Be star and a black hole (BH). We observed it with XMM-Newton, and detected a faint X-ray source compatible ...with the position of the optical star, thus proving it to be the first Be/BH X-ray binary. The spectrum analysis requires a model fit with two components, a blackbody plus a power law, with (ProQuest: Formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted) keV and a photon index Gamma = 1.0 + or - 0.8, respectively. The non-thermal component dominates above Asymptotically = to0.8 keV. The obtained total flux is (ProQuest: Formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted) erg cm super(-2) s super(-1). At a distance of 2.6 + or - 0.6 kpc the total flux translates into a luminosity L sub(x) = (3.7 + or - 1.7) x 10 super(31) erg s super(-1). Considering the estimated range of BH masses to be 3.8-6.9 M sub(middot in circle), this luminosity represents (6.7 + or - 4.4) x 10 super(-8)L sub( Edd), which is typical of stellar-mass BHs in quiescence. We discuss the origin of the two spectral components: the thermal component is associated with the hot wind of the Be star, whereas the power-law component is associated with emission from the vicinity of the BH. We also find that the position of MWC 656 in the radio versus X-ray luminosity diagram may be consistent with the radio/X-ray correlation observed in BH low-mass X-ray binaries. This suggests that this correlation might also be valid for BH high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) with X-ray luminosities down to ~10 super(-8)L sub(Edd). MWC 656 will allow the accretion processes and the accretion/ejection coupling at very low luminosities for BH HMXBs to be studied.
Massive protostars have associated bipolar outflows that can produce strong shocks when they interact with the surrounding medium. At these shocks, particles can be accelerated up to relativistic ...energies. Relativistic electrons and protons can then produce gamma-ray emission, as some theoretical models predict. To identify young galactic objects that may emit gamma rays, we crossed the Fermi First Year Catalog with some catalogs of known massive young stellar objects (MYSOs), early type stars, and OB associations, and we implemented Monte Carlo simulations to find the probability of chance coincidences. We obtained a list of massive MYSOs that are spatially coincident with Fermi sources. Our results indicate that ~70% of these candidates should be gamma-ray sources with a confidence of ~5σ. We studied the coincidences one by one to check the viability of these young sources as potential counterparts to Fermi sources and made a short list of best targets for new detailed multifrequency observations. The results for other type of young galactic objects are not conclusive.
In recent years, massive protostars have turned out to be a possible population of high-energy emitters. Among the best candidates is IRAS 16547-4247, a protostar that presents a powerful outflow ...with clear signatures of interaction with its environment. This source has been revealed to be a potential high-energy source because it displays non-thermal radio emission of synchrotron origin, which is evidence of relativistic particles. To improve our understanding of IRAS 16547-4247 as a high-energy source, we analyzed XMM-Newton archival data and found that IRAS 16547−4247 is a hard X-ray source. We discuss these results in the context of a refined one-zone model and previous radio observations. From our study we find that it may be difficult to explain the X-ray emission as non-thermal radiation coming from the interaction region, but it might be produced by thermal Bremsstrahlung (plus photo-electric absorption) by a fast shock at the jet end. In the high-energy range, the source might be detectable by the present generation of Cherenkov telescopes, and may eventually be detected by Fermi in the GeV range.
ABSTRACT We report the results of an extensive search through the AGILE data for a gamma-ray counterpart to the LIGO gravitational-wave (GW) event GW150914. Currently in spinning mode, AGILE has the ...potential of cover 80% of the sky with its gamma-ray instrument, more than 100 times a day. It turns out that AGILE came within a minute of the event time of observing the accessible GW150914 localization region. Interestingly, the gamma-ray detector exposed ∼65% of this region during the 100 s time intervals centered at −100 and +300 s from the event time. We determine a 2 flux upper limit in the band 50 MeV-10 GeV, UL = 1.9 × 10−8 erg cm−2 s−1, obtained ∼300 s after the event. The timing of this measurement is the fastest ever obtained for GW150914, and significantly constrains the electromagnetic emission of a possible high-energy counterpart. We also carried out a search for a gamma-ray precursor and delayed emission over five timescales ranging from minutes to days: in particular, we obtained an optimal exposure during the interval −150/−30 s. In all these observations, we do not detect a significant signal associated with GW150914. We do not reveal the weak transient source reported by Fermi-GBM 0.4 s after the event time. However, even though a gamma-ray counterpart of the GW150914 event was not detected, the prospects for future AGILE observations of GW sources are decidedly promising.
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