X-ray observations of ultraluminous X-ray sources

Roberts, T.P.

doi:10.1007/s10509-007-9547-z

X-ray observations of ultraluminous X-ray sources

Roberts, T.P.

Authors

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

Abstract

Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are amongst the most intriguing of X-ray source classes. Their extreme luminosities—greater than 1039 erg s−1 in the 0.3–10 keV band alone—suggest either the presence of black holes larger than those regularly encountered in our own Galaxy (the Galactic centre excepted), or sources apparently radiating well above the Eddington limit. We review the insights afforded us by studies of their X-ray emission, focussing on what this reveals about the underlying compact object. In particular, we discuss recent deep observations of ULXs by the XMM-Newton observatory, and how the unprecedented data quality provided by this mission is starting to discriminate between the different physical models for these extraordinary X-ray emitters.

Citation

Roberts, T. (2007). X-ray observations of ultraluminous X-ray sources. Astrophysics and Space Science, 311(1-3), 203-212. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-007-9547-z

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Oct 1, 2007
Deposit Date	Jan 27, 2014
Publicly Available Date	Feb 4, 2014
Journal	Astrophysics and Space Science
Print ISSN	0004-640X
Electronic ISSN	1572-946X
Publisher	Springer
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	311
Issue	1-3
Pages	203-212
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-007-9547-z
Keywords	Black hole physics, X-rays, Binaries, Galaxies.