We propose to continue the INTEGRAL/multi-wavelengh monitoring of GRS 1915+105 with the goal to understand the tight connections that exist between the different emitting media, and placed in a broader context, understand accreting-ejecting sources in general. We will still take advantage of other facilities we included in the past AOs (the Sardinia and Medicina radio telescopes, Insight-HXMT in the X-rays, and possibly NICER). We will also include infrared/optical (ESO) through dedicated proposals. We require 10 observations of 90 ks each (based on what was awarded by the TAC in AO18) pointings taken every second revolution, in order to 1) probe the physics of accretion by studying the 0.5-500 keV emission of the source, 2) study the origin of the high variability of GRS 1915+105, 3) understand the connections between accretion and ejection processes, and 4) constrain physical models of emission processes through broad-band spectral and temporal analysis. Points 1) and 2) can be done by looking into the interplay between the soft and hard X-ray emitters (JEM-X and IBIS + HXMT and/or NICER), point 3) and 4) need contemporaneous broad-band coverages and timing studies (with NICER and HXMT). Besides these specific points this monitoring will allow us to accumulate more data and thus have a better view of the (rather unknown) behaviour of this source beyond 200 keV. This is especially true for the recent low (hard) state phase the source has entered in 2018, and which seems to be accompanied with sporadic radio flares. It should also be noted that GRS 1915+105 lies in a quite crowded field, with many variable sources such as X-ray binaries of all types, the enigmatic microquasar SS 433, and a couple of highly absorbed IGR sources. This survey will also permit all these sources to be studied in a regular manner. Such a monitoring will greatly participate to the INTEGRAL legacy by bringing new data for a dozen of exciting Galactic sources.
Magnetars and axion-like particles: probes with the hard X-ray spectrum - Fortin, Jean-Francois, Guo, Huai-Ke,Harris, Steven P.,Sheridan, Elijah,Sinha, Kuver (2021-06-01) http://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/#abs/2021JCAP...06..036F
Primordial black hole dark matter in the context of extra dimensions - Friedlander, Avi, Mack, Katherine J.,Schon, Sarah,Song, Ningqiang,Vincent, Aaron C. (2022-05-01) http://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/#abs/2022PhRvD.105j3508F
Temporal Coverage
2022-04-19T00:09:38Z / 2022-11-13T13:47:39Z
Version
1.0
Mission Description
The INTEGRAL (International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory) mission, launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) on October 17, 2002, was designed to study high-energy phenomena in the universe. INTEGRAL was operating until february 2025 and it was equipped with three high-energy instruments: the Imager on Board the INTEGRAL Satellite (IBIS), the Spectrometer on INTEGRAL (SPI), and the JEM-X (Joint European Monitor for X-rays). Its Optical Monitoring Camera (OMC) provided optical V-band magnitude measurements, complementing the high-energy observations.
European Space Agency, Rodriguez, 2025, 'GRS 1915+105 INTEGRAL/MULTI-WAVELENGTH MONITORING PROGRAM: CLARIFYING ACCRETION-EJECTION MECHANISMS', 1.0, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.57780/esa-zeaj6p9
