A.D. Sutton
A bright ultraluminous X-ray source in NGC 5907
Sutton, A.D.; Roberts, T.P.; Gladstone, J.C.; Farrell, S.A.; Reilly, E.; Goad, M.R.; Gehrels, N.
Authors
Professor Tim Roberts t.p.roberts@durham.ac.uk
Professor
J.C. Gladstone
S.A. Farrell
E. Reilly
M.R. Goad
N. Gehrels
Abstract
We present a multimission X-ray analysis of a bright (peak observed 0.3–10 keV luminosity of ∼6 × 1040 erg s−1), but relatively highly absorbed ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 5907. The ULX is spectrally hard in X-rays (Γ ∼ 1.2–1.7, when fitted with an absorbed power law), and has a previously reported hard spectral break consistent with it being in the ultraluminous accretion state. It is also relatively highly absorbed for a ULX, with a column of ∼0.4–0.9 × 1022 atom cm−2 in addition to the line-of-sight column in our Galaxy. Although its X-ray spectra are well represented by accretion disc models, its variability characteristics argue against this interpretation. The ULX spectra instead appear dominated by a cool, optically thick Comptonizing corona. We discuss how the measured 9 per cent rms variability and a hardening of the spectrum as its flux diminishes might be reconciled with the effects of a very massive, radiatively driven wind and subtle changes in the corona, respectively. We speculate that the cool disc-like spectral component thought to be produced by the wind in other ULXs may be missing from the observed spectrum due to a combination of a low temperature (∼0.1 keV), and the high column to the ULX. We find no evidence, other than its extreme X-ray luminosity, for the presence of an intermediate mass black hole (MsBHs, ∼ 102−104 M⊙) in this object. Rather, the observations can be consistently explained by a massive (≳ 20 M⊙) stellar remnant black hole in a super-Eddington accretion state.
Citation
Sutton, A., Roberts, T., Gladstone, J., Farrell, S., Reilly, E., Goad, M., & Gehrels, N. (2013). A bright ultraluminous X-ray source in NGC 5907. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 434(2), 1702-1712. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt1133
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Publication Date | Sep 11, 2013 |
Deposit Date | Sep 11, 2013 |
Publicly Available Date | Jan 27, 2014 |
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 | 434 |
Issue | 2 |
Pages | 1702-1712 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt1133 |
Keywords | Accretion discs, Black hole physics, X rays, Binaries, Galaxies. |
Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1447873 |
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Copyright Statement
This article has been published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. © 2013 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
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