The dust-enshrouded microquasar candidate AX J1639.0-4642 = IGR J16393-4643

Abstract

We present a multiwavelength study of the field containing the unidentified X-ray source AX J1639.0-4642, discovered with the ASCA observatory and recently detected with the IBIS telescope, onboard the INTEGRAL satellite, dubbed IGR J16393-4643. The huge hydrogen column density towards the source, the hard spectral index in the 0.7-10 keV band and its flux variability suggest that the source is a High Mass X-ray Binary (HMXB) enshrouded by dust. Our search reveals the presence of a non-thermal radio counterpart within the X-ray error box. After a study of the broadband emission from X-rays to the radio domain, we propose that AX J1639.0-4642 is a dust-enshrouded Microquasar (MQ) candidate. In addition, the X-ray source is well within the 95% location contour of the unidentified gamma-ray source 3EG J1639-4702. The main properties of AX J1639.0-4642/3EG J1639-4702 are consistent with those of two other MQs previously proposed to display high-energy gamma-ray emission.

7 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A. Title and discussion on the possible NIR counterpart have been modified

References in corpus (3)

• A search for microquasar candidates at low galactic latitudes
• Optical spectroscopy of microquasar candidates at low galactic latitudes
• EVN and MERLIN observations of microquasar candidates at low galactic latitudes

Cited by in corpus (8)

• A revised catalogue of EGRET gamma-ray sources
• Chandra Localizations and Spectra of INTEGRAL Sources in the Galactic Plane
• XMM-Newton observations reveal the X-ray counterpart of the very-high-energy gamma-ray source HESSJ1640-465
• Orbital Parameters for the X-ray Pulsar IGR J16393-4643
• Chandra observations of five INTEGRAL sources: new X-ray positions for IGR J16393-4643 and IGR J17091-3624
• XMM-Newton and ESO observations of the two unidentified gamma-ray sources 3EG J0616-3310 and 3EG J1249-8330
• Magnetorotational instability in decretion disks of critically rotating stars and the outer structure of Be and Be/X-ray disks
• Towards a population of HMXB/NS microquasars as counterparts of low-latitude unidentified EGRET sources