Abstract
We analyze in detail the ASCA observations of the hard X-ray source IGR J16318-4848, which was recently discovered by the INTEGRAL observatory (Courvoisier et al. 2003). The source has an anomalously hard spectrum in the energy range 0.5–10 keV and is virtually undetectable below 4 keV because of strong photoabsorption (n H L>4×1023 cm−2). The Kα line of neutral or weakly ionized iron with an equivalent width of ∼2.5 keV dominates in the energy range 4–10 keV. There is also evidence for the presence of a second line at energy ∼7 keV. Our analysis of archival observational data for the infrared counterpart of IGR J16318-4848 that was discovered by Foschini et al. (2003) revealed the source in the wavelength range 1–15 µm. Available data suggest that the object can be an X-ray binary system surrounded by a dense envelope. The source may be a high-mass X-ray binary similar to GX 301-2. We believe that IGR J16318-4848 can be the first representative of a hitherto unknown population of strongly absorbed Galactic X-ray sources that could not be detected by previous X-ray observatories.
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Translated from Pis’ma v Astronomicheski\(\overset{\lower0.5em\hbox{$\smash{\scriptscriptstyle\smile}$}}{l}\) Zhurnal, Vol. 29, No. 9, 2003, pp. 664–671.
Original Russian Text Copyright © 2003 by Revnivtsev, Sazonov, Gilfanov, Sunyaev.
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Revnivtsev, M.G., Sazonov, S.Y., Gilfanov, M.R. et al. IGR J16318-4848: An X-ray source in a dense envelope?. Astron. Lett. 29, 587–593 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1607496
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1607496