High-Energy sources before INTEGRAL -- INTEGRAL reference catalog --

TL;DR

This paper presents the INTEGRAL reference catalog of bright X-ray and gamma-ray sources compiled before INTEGRAL's launch, aiding in source detection and variability studies during the mission.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive catalog of 1122 known high-energy sources with spectral models and flux estimates, facilitating INTEGRAL's observational analysis.

Findings

Expected to detect ~700 sources below 10 keV

Expected to detect ~400 sources above 20 keV

Catalog supports source identification and variability studies

Abstract

We describe the INTEGRAL reference catalog which classifies previously known bright X-ray and gamma-ray sources before the launch of INTEGRAL. These sources are, or have been at least once, brighter than ~1 mCrab above 3 keV, and are expected to be detected by INTEGRAL. This catalog is being used in the INTEGRAL Quick Look Analysis to discover new sources or significantly variable sources. We compiled several published X-ray and gamma-ray catalogs, and surveyed recent publications for new sources. Consequently, there are 1122 sources in our INTEGRAL reference catalog. In addition to the source positions, we show an approximate spectral model and expected flux for each source, based on which we derive expected INTEGRAL counting rates. Assuming the default instrument performances and at least ~10^5 sec exposure time for any part of the sky, we expect that INTEGRAL will detect at least ~700 sources below 10 keV and ~400 sources above 20 keV over the mission life.