The Ultraluminous X-ray Sources near the Center of M82

Details The Ultraluminous X-ray Sources near the Center of M82 The Ultraluminous X-ray Sources near the Center of M82

2007-06-06

arxiv.org/abs/0706.0901v2

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

9 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/522291

We report the identification of a recurrent ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX), a highly absorbed X-ray source (possibly a background AGN), and a young supernova remnant near the center of the starburst galaxy M82. From a series of Chandra observations taken from 1999 to 2005, we found that the transient ULX first appeared in 1999 October. The source turned off in 2000 January, but later reappeared and has been active since then. The X-ray luminosity of this source varies from below the detection level (~2.5e38 erg/s) to its active state in between ~7e39 erg/s and 1.3e40 erg/s (in the 0.5-10 keV energy band) and shows unusual spectral changes. The X-ray spectra of some Chandra observations are best fitted with an absorbed power-law model with photon index ranging from 1.3 to 1.7. These spectra are similar to those of Galactic black hole binary candidates seen in the low/hard state except that a very hard spectrum was seen in one of the observations. By comparing with near infrared images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, the ULX is found to be located within a young star cluster. Radio imaging indicates that it is associated with a H II region. We suggest that the ULX is likely to be a > 100 solar mass intermediate-mass black hole in the low/hard state. In addition to the transient ULX, we also found a highly absorbed hard X-ray source which is likely to be an AGN and an ultraluminous X-ray emitting young supernova remnant which may be related to a 100-year old gamma-ray burst event, within 2 arcsec of the transient ULX.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

The Ultraluminous X-ray Sources near the Center of M82 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The Ultraluminous X-ray Sources near the Center of M82, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Ultraluminous X-ray Sources near the Center of M82 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-441589