Open Universe survey of Swift-XRT GRB fields: Flux-limited sample of HBL blazars

Journal
Date Issued
2020
Author(s)
Giommi, Paolo
•
Chang, Y. L.
•
Turriziani, Sara
•
Glauch, T.
•
•
•
•
Penacchioni, Ana Virginia
•
Arneodo, F.
•
Barres de Almeida, U.
•
Brandt, C. H.
•
•
Civitarese, O.
•
D'ELIA, Valerio
•
Di Giovanni, A.
•
De Angelis, M.
•
Del Rio Vera, J.
•
Di Pippo, Simonetta
•
•
•
Pollock, A. M. T.
•
Puccetti, Simonetta
•
Ricard, N.
•
Ruffini, Remo
•
Sahakyan, N.
DOI
Abstract
Aims: The sample of serendipitous sources detected in all Swift-XRT images pointing at gamma ray bursts (GRBs) constitutes the largest existing medium-deep survey of the X-ray sky. To build such dataset we analysed all Swift X-ray images centred on GRBs and observed over a period of 15 years using automatic tools that do not require any expertise in X-ray astronomy. Besides presenting a new large X-ray survey and a complete sample of blazars, this work aims to be a step in the direction of achieving the ultimate goal of the Open Universe Initiative, which is to enable non-expert people to benefit fully from space science data, possibly extending the potential for scientific discovery, which is currently confined within a small number of highly specialised teams, to a much larger population. Methods: We used the Swift_deepsky Docker container encapsulated pipeline to build the largest existing flux-limited and unbiased sample of serendipitous X-ray sources. Swift_deepsky runs on any laptop or desktop computer with a modern operating system. The tool automatically downloads the data and the calibration files from the archives, runs the official Swift analysis software, and produces a number of results including images, the list of detected sources, X-ray fluxes, spectral energy distribution data, and spectral slope estimations. Results: We used our source list to build the LogN-LogS of extra-galactic sources, which perfectly matches that estimated by other satellites. Combining our survey with multi-frequency data, we selected a complete radio-flux-density-limited sample of high energy peaked blazars (HBL). The LogN-LogS built with this data set confirms that previous samples are incomplete below ∼20 mJy.
Volume
642
Issue
A141
Uri
Url
Issn Identifier
0004-6361
Ads BibCode
2020A&A...642A.141G
Rights
open.access
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