Unmasking the optical counterpart to the ultraluminous X-ray source, NGC 5204 X-1

Details Unmasking the optical counterpart to the ultraluminous X-ray source, NGC 5204 X-1 Unmasking the optical counterpart to the ultraluminous X-ray source, NGC 5204 X-1

Jul 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002hst..prop.9397r&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #9397

Physics

Optics

Hst Proposal Id #9397

Scientific paper

We propose HST/STIS near- and far-UV spectroscopy of the recently identified optical counterpart to the ultraluminous X-ray source {ULX} NGC 5204 X-1 {Roberts et al. 2001}. This source has since been resolved with HST/WFPC2 {data just public} into two sources with V magnitudes of 20.5 and 22.0 respectively, separated by 0.4 arcsecs {10 pc at the distance of NGC 5204}. Existing low resolution ground-based data are dominated by the brighter source, the spectrum of which appears blue and apparently featureless, consistent with either {i} at least one unusually bright supergiant O star {M_v<=-7.8}, or {ii} an O star association, although the data cannot presently rule out the presence of a background BL-Lac object. Ground-based data cannot unambiguously type both the new sources, due to their small separation {there are no bright nearby stars necessary for adaptive optics}, and the absence of strong features in the optical spectra of O stars. By observing with the HST/STIS far- and near-UV MAMA we will obtain spectra in a waveband rich in O star absorption features, with sufficient S/N {10-15} and resolution {0.6- 1.5Angstrom} to identify the sources, and reveal the nature of the first optical counterpart to an ULX. This result will be an important step in determining whether most ULX systems contain a new, 10^2 - 10^3 M_odot `intermediate-mass' class of black hole.

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