The Birth of an Ultraluminous X-Ray Source in M83
A previously undetected (LX < 1036 erg s–1) source in the strongly star-forming galaxy M83 entered an ultraluminous state between 2009 August and 2010 December. It was first seen with Chandra on 2010 December 23 at LX ≈ 4 × 1039 erg s–1 and has remained ultraluminous through our most recent obs...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Institute of Physics Publishing, Inc.
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8844 |
| _version_ | 1848745777450450944 |
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| author | Soria, Roberto Kuntz, K. Winkler, P. Blair, W. Long, K. Plucinsky, P. Whitmore, B. |
| author_facet | Soria, Roberto Kuntz, K. Winkler, P. Blair, W. Long, K. Plucinsky, P. Whitmore, B. |
| author_sort | Soria, Roberto |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | A previously undetected (LX < 1036 erg s–1) source in the strongly star-forming galaxy M83 entered an ultraluminous state between 2009 August and 2010 December. It was first seen with Chandra on 2010 December 23 at LX ≈ 4 × 1039 erg s–1 and has remained ultraluminous through our most recent observations in 2011 December, with typical flux variation of a factor of two. The spectrum is well fitted by a combination of absorbed power-law and disk blackbody models. While the relative contributions of the models vary with time, we have seen no evidence for a canonical state transition. The luminosity and spectral properties are consistent with accretion powered by a black hole with M BH ≈ 40-100 M ☉. In 2011 July we found a luminous, blue optical counterpart that had not been seen in deep Hubble Space Telescope observations obtained in 2009 August. These optical observations suggest that the donor star is a low-mass star undergoing Roche lobe overflow, and that the blue optical emission seen during the outburst is coming from an irradiated accretion disk. This source shows that ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with low-mass companions are an important component of the ULX population in star-forming galaxies and provides further evidence that the blue optical counterparts of some ULXs need not indicate a young, high-mass companion, but rather that they may indicate X-ray reprocessing. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:22:45Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-8844 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:22:45Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Institute of Physics Publishing, Inc. |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-88442023-02-22T06:24:23Z The Birth of an Ultraluminous X-Ray Source in M83 Soria, Roberto Kuntz, K. Winkler, P. Blair, W. Long, K. Plucinsky, P. Whitmore, B. A previously undetected (LX < 1036 erg s–1) source in the strongly star-forming galaxy M83 entered an ultraluminous state between 2009 August and 2010 December. It was first seen with Chandra on 2010 December 23 at LX ≈ 4 × 1039 erg s–1 and has remained ultraluminous through our most recent observations in 2011 December, with typical flux variation of a factor of two. The spectrum is well fitted by a combination of absorbed power-law and disk blackbody models. While the relative contributions of the models vary with time, we have seen no evidence for a canonical state transition. The luminosity and spectral properties are consistent with accretion powered by a black hole with M BH ≈ 40-100 M ☉. In 2011 July we found a luminous, blue optical counterpart that had not been seen in deep Hubble Space Telescope observations obtained in 2009 August. These optical observations suggest that the donor star is a low-mass star undergoing Roche lobe overflow, and that the blue optical emission seen during the outburst is coming from an irradiated accretion disk. This source shows that ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with low-mass companions are an important component of the ULX population in star-forming galaxies and provides further evidence that the blue optical counterparts of some ULXs need not indicate a young, high-mass companion, but rather that they may indicate X-ray reprocessing. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8844 10.1088/0004-637X/750/2/152 Institute of Physics Publishing, Inc. unknown |
| spellingShingle | Soria, Roberto Kuntz, K. Winkler, P. Blair, W. Long, K. Plucinsky, P. Whitmore, B. The Birth of an Ultraluminous X-Ray Source in M83 |
| title | The Birth of an Ultraluminous X-Ray Source in M83 |
| title_full | The Birth of an Ultraluminous X-Ray Source in M83 |
| title_fullStr | The Birth of an Ultraluminous X-Ray Source in M83 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Birth of an Ultraluminous X-Ray Source in M83 |
| title_short | The Birth of an Ultraluminous X-Ray Source in M83 |
| title_sort | birth of an ultraluminous x-ray source in m83 |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8844 |