Related papers: X-ray observations of ultraluminous X-ray sources
We have studied a highly variable ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in the Fornax galaxy NGC 1365, with a series of 12 Chandra and XMM-Newton observations between 2002 and 2006. In 2006 April, the source peaked at a luminosity ~ 3 x 10^{40}…
Ultra-Luminous X-ray sources are accreting black holes that might represent strong evidence of the Intermediate Mass Black Holes (IMBH), proposed to exist by theoretical studies but with no firm detection (as a class) so far. We analyze the…
We present spectroscopic observations of three Ultra Luminous X-ray sources (ULX's). Two of them are very close to the active galaxy NGC 720 and the other is near NGC 1073. The two around NGC 720 turn out to be quasars at z=0.964 and z=…
Despite the 30-year history of ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) studies, issues like the majority of their physical natures (i.e., neutron stars, stellar-mass black holes, or intermediate black holes) as well as the accretion mechanisms…
Two recent observations of the nearby galaxy NGC 6946 with NuSTAR, one simultaneous with an XMM-Newton observation, provide an opportunity to examine its population of bright accreting sources from a broadband perspective. We study the…
Ultra-Luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are accreting black holes for which their X-ray properties have been seen to be different to the case of stellar-mass black hole binaries. For most of the cases their intrinsic energy spectra are well…
We have studied an ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in NGC 4559 with XMM-Newton, and its peculiar star-forming environment with HST/WFPC2. The X-ray source is one of the brightest in its class (L_x ~ 2 x 10^{40} erg/s). Luminosity and…
Most Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are thought to be powered by super-Eddington accretion onto stellar-mass compact objects. Accretors in this extreme regime are naturally expected to ionise copious amounts of plasma in their vicinity…
We investigated the relationship between the X-ray variability amplitude and X-ray luminosity for a sample of 14 bright Ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with XMM-Newton/EPIC data, and compare it with the well established similar…
Ultraluminous X-Ray Objects are off-nucleus point sources with $L_X=10^{39}$-$10^{41}$ erg/s and are among the most poorly understood X-ray sources. To help understand their nature, we are trying to identify their optical counterparts by…
The number of Ultraluminous X-ray Sources (ULXs) is observed to be correlated with the current star formation rate in late-type galaxies and with the stellar mass in early-type galaxies (ETGs). Since there is very little gas, dust or star…
The origin of the high X-ray luminosities of most ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) still remains poorly understood. Most of the scenarios proposed to explain their nature assume that ULXs are powered by accretion on to a black hole (BH).…
X-ray binaries, powered by black holes, neutron stars, or white dwarfs accreting matter from a companion star, are among the brightest beacons in galaxies, outshining the Sun by a factor of millions. Most emit primarily above 0.3 keV in…
Ultraluminous X-ray Sources (ULXs) in globular clusters are low mass X-ray binaries that achieve high X-ray luminosities through a currently uncertain accretion mechanism. Using archival Chandra and Hubble Space Telescope observations, we…
I suggest that the beaming factor in bright ULXs varies as $b \propto \dot m^{-2}$, where $\dot m$ is the Eddington ratio for accretion. This is required by the observed universal $L_{\rm soft} \propto T^{-4}$ relation between soft--excess…
One hundred seven ultraluminous X-ray (ULX) sources with 0.3-10.0 keV luminosities in excess of 1e39 erg/s are identified in a complete sample of 127 nearby galaxies. The sample includes all galaxies within 14.5 Mpc above the completeness…
With the discovery of pulsations in some of the ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs), it is quite clear that most of the ULXs harbor either a neutron star or a stellar mass black hole as a compact object accreting at super-Eddington rates.…
A subset of ultraluminous X-ray sources (those with luminosities < 10^40 erg/s) are thought to be powered by the accretion of gas onto black holes with masses of ~5-20 M_solar, probably via an accretion disc. The X-ray and radio emission…
The nature of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) is still debated. Recent studies show that metal-poor massive stars can collapse into massive stellar black holes (MSBHs), that is black holes with mass > 25 Msun. Such MSBHs are sufficiently…
We present the results of high-quality XMM-NEWTON observations of a ULX in the galaxy NGC 4190. The detection of spectral cutoff in NGC 4190 ULX1 spectra rules out the interpretation of the ULX to be in a standard low/hard canonical…