Multiband counterparts of two eclipsing ultraluminous X-ray sources in M51
We present the discovery and interpretation of ionized nebulae around two ultraluminous X-ray sources in M 51; both sources share the rare property of showing X-ray eclipses by their companion stars and are therefore prime targets for follow-up studies. Using archival Hubble Space Telescope images,...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Oxford University Press
2018
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66814 |
| _version_ | 1848761399645306880 |
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| author | Urquhart, Ryan Soria, Roberto Johnston, H. Pakull, M. Motch, C. Schwope, A. Miller-Jones, James Anderson, Gemma |
| author_facet | Urquhart, Ryan Soria, Roberto Johnston, H. Pakull, M. Motch, C. Schwope, A. Miller-Jones, James Anderson, Gemma |
| author_sort | Urquhart, Ryan |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | We present the discovery and interpretation of ionized nebulae around two ultraluminous X-ray sources in M 51; both sources share the rare property of showing X-ray eclipses by their companion stars and are therefore prime targets for follow-up studies. Using archival Hubble Space Telescope images, we found an elongated, 100-pc-long emission-line structure associated with one X-ray source (CXOM51 J132940.0+471237; ULX-1 for simplicity), and a more circular, ionized nebula at the location of the second source (CXOM51 J132939.5+471244; ULX-2 for simplicity). We observed both nebulae with the Large Binocular Telescope’s Multi-Object Double Spectrograph. From our analysis of the optical spectra, we argue that the gas in the ULX-1 bubble is shock-ionized, consistent with the effect of a jet with a kinetic power of ≈2 × 1039 erg s−1. Additional X-ray photoionization may also be present, to explain the strength of high-ionization lines such as He II λ4686 and [Ne V] λ3426. On the other hand, the emission lines from the ULX-2 bubble are typical for photoionization by normal O stars suggesting that the nebula is actually an H II region not physically related to the ULX but is simply a chance alignment. From archival Very Large Array data, we also detect spatially extended, steep-spectrum radio emission at the location of the ULX-1 bubble (consistent with its jet origin), but no radio counterpart for ULX-2 (consistent with the lack of shock-ionized gas around that source). |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:31:03Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-66814 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:31:03Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-668142022-11-28T04:16:05Z Multiband counterparts of two eclipsing ultraluminous X-ray sources in M51 Urquhart, Ryan Soria, Roberto Johnston, H. Pakull, M. Motch, C. Schwope, A. Miller-Jones, James Anderson, Gemma We present the discovery and interpretation of ionized nebulae around two ultraluminous X-ray sources in M 51; both sources share the rare property of showing X-ray eclipses by their companion stars and are therefore prime targets for follow-up studies. Using archival Hubble Space Telescope images, we found an elongated, 100-pc-long emission-line structure associated with one X-ray source (CXOM51 J132940.0+471237; ULX-1 for simplicity), and a more circular, ionized nebula at the location of the second source (CXOM51 J132939.5+471244; ULX-2 for simplicity). We observed both nebulae with the Large Binocular Telescope’s Multi-Object Double Spectrograph. From our analysis of the optical spectra, we argue that the gas in the ULX-1 bubble is shock-ionized, consistent with the effect of a jet with a kinetic power of ≈2 × 1039 erg s−1. Additional X-ray photoionization may also be present, to explain the strength of high-ionization lines such as He II λ4686 and [Ne V] λ3426. On the other hand, the emission lines from the ULX-2 bubble are typical for photoionization by normal O stars suggesting that the nebula is actually an H II region not physically related to the ULX but is simply a chance alignment. From archival Very Large Array data, we also detect spatially extended, steep-spectrum radio emission at the location of the ULX-1 bubble (consistent with its jet origin), but no radio counterpart for ULX-2 (consistent with the lack of shock-ionized gas around that source). 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66814 10.1093/mnras/sty014 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082 Oxford University Press fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Urquhart, Ryan Soria, Roberto Johnston, H. Pakull, M. Motch, C. Schwope, A. Miller-Jones, James Anderson, Gemma Multiband counterparts of two eclipsing ultraluminous X-ray sources in M51 |
| title | Multiband counterparts of two eclipsing ultraluminous X-ray sources in M51 |
| title_full | Multiband counterparts of two eclipsing ultraluminous X-ray sources in M51 |
| title_fullStr | Multiband counterparts of two eclipsing ultraluminous X-ray sources in M51 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Multiband counterparts of two eclipsing ultraluminous X-ray sources in M51 |
| title_short | Multiband counterparts of two eclipsing ultraluminous X-ray sources in M51 |
| title_sort | multiband counterparts of two eclipsing ultraluminous x-ray sources in m51 |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT140101082 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66814 |