THE HIGH-ENERGY EMISSION OF THE CRAB NEBULA FROM 20 keV TO 6 MeV WITH INTEGRAL SPI

The SPI spectrometer aboard the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory mission regularly observes the Crab Nebula since 2003. We report on observations distributed over 5.5 years and investigate the variability of the intensity and spectral shape of this remarkable source in the hard X-rays domain up to a few MeV. While single power-law models give a good description in the X-ray domain (mean photon index similar to 2.05) and MeV domain (photon index similar to 2.23), crucial information is contained in the evolution of the slope with energy between these two values. This study has been carried out through individual observations and long duration (similar to 400 ks) averaged spectra. The stability of the emission is remarkable and excludes a single power-law model. The slopes measured below and above 100 keV agree perfectly with the last values reported in the X-ray and MeV regions, respectively, but without indication of a localized break point. This suggests a gradual softening in the emission around 100 keV and thus a continuous evolution rather than an actual change in the mechanism parameters. In the MeV region, no significant deviation from the proposed power-law model is visible up to 5-6 MeV. Finally, we take advantage of the spectroscopic capability of the instrument to seek for previously reported spectral features in the covered energy range with negative results for any significant cyclotron or annihilation emission on 400 ks timescales. Beyond the scientific results, the performance and reliability of the SPI instrument is explicitly demonstrated, with some details about the most appropriate analysis method.