Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Scientific paper
2012-02-09
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted to ApJ Letters
Scientific paper
We report the discovery of a new candidate ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in the nearby edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 891. The source, which has an absorbed flux of F_X ~ 10^-12 erg/s/cm^2 (corresponding to L_X > 10^40 erg/s at 9 Mpc), must have begun its outburst in the past 5 years as it is not detected in prior X-ray observations between 1986 and 2006. We try empirical fits to the XMM-Newton spectrum, finding that the spectrum is fit very well as emission from a hot disk, a cool irradiated disk, or blurred reflection from the innermost region of the disk. The simplest physically motivated model with an excellent fit is a hot disk around a stellar-mass black hole (a super-Eddington outburst), but equally good fits are found for each model. We suggest several follow-up experiments that could falsify these models.
Bregman Joel N.
Hodges-Kluck Edmund J.
Miller John Mcl.
Pellegrini Eric W.
No associations
LandOfFree
A New Ultraluminous X-ray Source in the Nearby Edge-on Spiral NGC 891 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 A New Ultraluminous X-ray Source in the Nearby Edge-on Spiral NGC 891, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A New Ultraluminous X-ray Source in the Nearby Edge-on Spiral NGC 891 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-273640