Key results from an XMM-Newton and Chandra study of a new sample of extreme ULXs from the 2XMM catalogue

Sutton, A.D.; Roberts, T.P.; Walton, D.J.

doi:10.1002/asna.201011500

Key results from an XMM-Newton and Chandra study of a new sample of extreme ULXs from the 2XMM catalogue

Sutton, A.D.; Roberts, T.P.; Walton, D.J.

Authors

A.D. Sutton

Professor Tim Roberts t.p.roberts@durham.ac.uk
Professor

D.J. Walton

Abstract

We present highlights from a study of a sample of 10 extreme-luminosity candidate ultraluminous X-ray sources (LX > 5×1040 erg s −1), all at distances <100 Mpc, identified from a cross-correlation of the RC3 catalogue of galaxies with the 2XMM catalogue. Five of the sample have also been observed by Chandra. Of the 10 sources, seven reside in the disc or arms of spiral galaxies, and the remaining three are close to large elliptical galaxies. Unlike many less luminous ultraluminous X-ray sources, temporal variability is observed on short (ks) and long (yr) timescales for most sources in our sample. Long term spectral variability is also evident in some sources. In one case, we use archival Chandra data to demonstrate that a hyperluminous X-ray source candidate identified by XMM-Newton is actually resolved into multiple point sources at high spatial resolution, but note that the other candidates remain unresolved under Chandra’s intense scrutiny.

Citation

Sutton, A., Roberts, T., & Walton, D. (2011). Key results from an XMM-Newton and Chandra study of a new sample of extreme ULXs from the 2XMM catalogue. Astronomical Notes, 332(4), 362-366. https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.201011500

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Apr 1, 2011
Deposit Date	Jan 30, 2012
Publicly Available Date	Jan 24, 2014
Journal	Astronomische Nachrichten
Print ISSN	0004-6337
Electronic ISSN	1521-3994
Publisher	Wiley
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	332
Issue	4
Pages	362-366
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.201011500
Keywords	accretion discs, X-rays, Binaries, Galaxies.