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The most extreme ultraluminous X-ray sources: evidence for intermediate-mass black holes?

Sutton, Andrew D.; Roberts, Timothy P.; Walton, Dominic J.; Gladstone, Jeanette C.; Scott, Amy E.

The most extreme ultraluminous X-ray sources: evidence for intermediate-mass black holes? Thumbnail


Authors

Andrew D. Sutton

Dominic J. Walton

Jeanette C. Gladstone

Amy E. Scott



Abstract

We present the results from an X-ray and optical study of a new sample of eight extreme luminosity ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) candidates, which were selected as the brightest ULXs (with LX > 5 × 1040 erg s−1) located within 100 Mpc identified in a cross-correlation of the 2XMM-DR1 and RC3 catalogues. These objects are so luminous that they are difficult to describe with current models of super-Eddington accretion on to all but the most massive stellar remnants; hence they are amongst the most plausible candidates to host larger, intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs). Two objects are luminous enough in at least one observation to be classed as hyperluminous X-ray source (HLX) candidates, including one persistent HLX in an S0 galaxy that (at 3 × 1041 erg s−1) is the second most luminous HLX yet detected. The remaining seven sources are located in spiral galaxies, and several appear to be closely associated with regions of star formation as is common for many less luminous ULXs. However, the X-ray characteristics of these extreme ULXs appear to diverge from the less luminous objects. They are typically harder, possessing absorbed power-law continuum spectra with Γ∼ 1.7, and are potentially more variable on short time-scales, with data consistent with ∼10–20 per cent rms variability on time-scales of 0.2–2 ks (albeit at low to moderate significance in many data sets). These properties appear consistent with the sub-Eddington hard state, which given the observed luminosities of these objects suggests the presence of IMBHs with masses in the range of . As such, this strengthens the case for these brightest ULXs as good candidates for the eventual conclusive detection of the highly elusive IMBHs in the present-day Universe. However, we caution that a combination of the highest plausible super-Eddington accretion rates and the largest permitted stellar black hole remnants cannot be ruled out without future, improved observations.

Citation

Sutton, A. D., Roberts, T. P., Walton, D. J., Gladstone, J. C., & Scott, A. E. (2012). The most extreme ultraluminous X-ray sources: evidence for intermediate-mass black holes?. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 423(2), 1154-1177. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20944.x

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jun 21, 2012
Deposit Date Mar 26, 2013
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 423
Issue 2
Pages 1154-1177
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20944.x
Keywords Accretion discs, Black hole physics, X-rays, Binaries, Galaxies.

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Copyright Statement
TThis article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2012 The Authors Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2012 RAS Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.





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