Unveiling the nature of INTEGRAL objects through optical spectroscopy . III . Observations of seven southern sources ⋆

In our continuing optical spectroscopic campaign to identify the longer-wavelength counterparts of newly-discovered hard X–ray sources detected by INTEGRAL, we observed the putative optical counterparts of seven southern sources at the South African Astronomical Observatory and at the European Southern Observatory. For two of these objects, optical photometry was also acquired. These observations firmly established the nature of four of them: we found that IGR J10404−4625 (=LEDA 93974), 4U 1344−60 and IGR J16482−3036 are Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) at redshifts z = 0.0237, 0.013 and 0.0313, respectively, and that 2RXP J130159.6−635806 is a Galactic High-Mass X–ray Binary (HMXB). We also give possible optical identifications for three further objects, namely IGR J11215−5952, IGR J11305−6256 and IGR J16207−5129, which are consistent with being Galactic HMXBs. Physical parameters for these objects are also evaluated by collecting and discussing the available multiwavelength information. The detection of four definite or likely HMXBs out of seven objects in our sample further stresses INTEGRAL’s crucial contribution in hunting this class of object. Also, the determination of the extragalactic nature of a substantial fraction of the INTEGRAL survey sources underlines the importance of hard X–ray observations for the study of background AGNs located beyond the ‘Zone of Avoidance’ of the Galactic Plane.