Unveiling the nature of the highly absorbed X-ray source SAXJ1748.2-2808 with XMM-Newton

Abstract

We report on the results of an EPIC XMM-Newton observation of the faint source SAXJ1748.2-2808 and the surrounding field. This source was discovered during the BeppoSAX Galactic center survey performed in 1997-1998. A spatial analysis resulted in the detection of 31 sources within the EPIC field of view. SAXJ1748.2-2808 is clearly resolved into 2 sources in EPIC images with the brighter contributing almost 80% of the 2-10keV flux. Spectral fits to this main source are consistent with an absorbed power-law with a photon index of 1.4+/-0.5 and absorption equivalent to 14E22cm-2 together with an iron line at 6.6+/-0.2 keV with an equivalent width of ~780eV. The significantly better statistics of the XMM-Newton observation, compared with BeppoSAX,allows to exclude a thermal nature for the X-ray emission. A comparison with other observations of SAXJ1748.2-2808 does not reveal any evidence for spectral or intensity long-term variability. Based on these properties we propose that the source is a low-luminosity high-mass X-ray binary located in the Galactic center region.

arXiv commentaccepted for publication in A&A

References in corpus (11)

• The European Photon Imaging Camera on XMM-Newton: The MOS Cameras
• X-ray Properties of LINERs and Low-luminosity Seyfert Galaxies Observed with ASCA. I. Observations and Results
• Hard X-ray view of the past activity of Sgr A* in a natural Compton mirror
• The HELLAS2XMM survey: I. The X-ray data and the Log(N)-Log(S)
• The X-ray Spectra of Black Hole X-ray Novae in Quiescence as Measured by Chandra
• Origin of the Hard X-ray Emission from the Galactic Plane
• On the Population of Wind-Accreting Neutron Stars in the Galaxy
• XMM-Newton spectral analysis of the Pulsar Wind Nebula within the composite SNR G0.9+0.1
• A look with BeppoSAX at the low-luminosity Galactic X-ray source 4U 2206+54
• A catalogue of soft X-ray sources in the galactic center region
• X-ray emission from the giant molecular clouds in the Galactic Center region and the discovery of new X-ray sources

Cited by in corpus (8)

• XMMU J174716.1-281048: a "quasi-persistent" very faint X-ray transient?
• An X-ray survey of the central molecular zone: variability of the Fe Ka emission line
• The XMM-Newton SSC survey of the Galactic Plane
• The Galactic plane at faint X-ray fluxes - II. Stacked X-ray spectra of a sample of serendipitous XMM-Newton sources
• Discoveries of 3 K-shell Lines of Iron and a Coherent Pulsation of 593-sec from SAX J1748.2-2808
• Periodicity from X-ray sources within the inner Galactic disk
• A search for near-infrared counterparts of two faint neutron star X-ray transients : XMMU J174716.1-281048 and SAX J1806.5-2215
• Timing analysis of a sample of five cataclysmic variable candidates observed by the XMM-Newton satellite