Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...211.4806b&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #48.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.809
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
If the emission from ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULX) is anisotropic, the luminosities can be less than the Eddington Luminosity for a 15 Msun black hole (2x1039 erg/s), obviating the need for intermediate mass black holes. We can test the isotropy condition because a fraction of the X-ray emission is absorbed by cold material, and much of this absorbed power will be reemitted isotropically by dust grains at infrared wavelengths. The ratio of the infrared luminosity to the absorbed X-ray luminosity is a measure of the anisotropy of the X-ray emission. We failed to detect infrared emission from the ULX in NGC 1313 using observations obtained with the IRAC and MIPS instruments on the Spitzer Observatory. The upper limit to the infrared power is well below the value expected if the X-ray emission is isotropic. If our model for the conversion of absorbed X-ray photons to dust reemission is correct, the inferred opening angle of the X-ray emission is less than 30 degrees, implying that the intrinsic X-ray luminosity is less than 2x1039 erg/s.
Bregman Joel Norman
Irwin Jimmy A.
Miller John Mcl.
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