Related papers: The linear rms-flux relation in an Ultraluminous X…
A new, transient ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) was recently discovered by Chandra in M31 with a luminosity at ~ 5 x 10^39 erg/s. Here we analyse a series of five subsequent XMM-Newton observations. The steady decline in X-ray luminosity…
We study spectral variability of 11 ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULX) using archived XMM-Newton and Chandra observations. We use three models to describe the observed spectra; a power-law, a multi-colour disk (MCD) and a combination of…
Majority of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are believed to be super-Eddington objects, providing a nearby prototype for studying an accretion in super-critical regime. In this work, we present the study of time-lag spectra of the ULX…
We have discovered an accreting black hole (BH) in a spectroscopically confirmed globular cluster (GC) in NGC 1399 through monitoring of its X-ray activity. The source, with a peak luminosity of L_x=2x10^39 ergs/s, reveals an order of…
There are two proposed explanations for ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with luminosities in excess of $10^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$. They could be intermediate-mass black holes (more than 100-1,000, solar masses, $M_\odot$) radiating at…
We investigate the relationship between the hard X-ray photon index $\Gamma$ and the Eddington ratio ($\xi=L_{X}(0.5-25 \rm keV)/L_{Edd}$) in six X-ray binaries (XRBs) with well constrained black hole masses and distances. We find that…
We report the results of a 2-month campaign conducted with the Chandra X-ray observatory to monitor the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC 5204 X-1. This was composed of a 50-ks observation, followed by ten 5-ks follow-ups spaced…
The lack of unambiguous detections of atomic features in the X-ray spectra of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) has proven a hindrance in diagnosing the nature of the accretion flow. The possible association of spectral residuals at soft…
Several investigations of the X-ray variability of active galactic nuclei (AGN) using the normalised excess variance (${\sigma^2_{\rm NXS}}$) parameter have shown that variability has a strong anti-correlation with black hole mass ($M_{\rm…
I briefly review much of the X-ray and optical data on the nature of the ULXs in nearby galaxies. I present new results on radio emission, finding that the radio is usually rather luminous and extended. I review the X-ray data on timing and…
Using two archival XMM-Newton observations, we identify strong X-ray flux variations in NGC 6946 X-1 indicating it is the most variable ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) on mHz time scales known so far. The 1-10 keV lightcurve exhibits…
NGC 5408 X-1 is a well-studied ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) that has been seen to emit in X-rays persistently above the Eddington limit of a stellar-mass black hole for years. In this paper we report on the most extensive X-ray…
We report the first detection of a Fe K$_{\alpha}$ line and soft X-ray lag in the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC 7456 ULX-1. The XMM-Newton spectra show the presence of the 6.4 keV Fe line at 2.6$\sigma$ confidence and an upper limit…
We examined spectral evolution in ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with apparent luminosities of about 10^40 ergs/s. Based on new results in this paper and those reported in the literature, two common spectral behaviors were found. Some…
Long-term X-ray modulations on timescales from tens to hundreds of days have been widely studied for X-ray binaries located in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds. For other nearby galaxies, only the most luminous X-ray sources can be…
Ultraluminous X-ray sources are considered amongst the most extremely accreting objects in the local Universe. The recent discoveries of pulsating neutron stars in ULXs strengthened the scenario of highly super-Eddington accretion…
We investigate models for the class of ultraluminous non-nuclear X-ray sources (ULXs) seen in a number of galaxies and probably associated with star-forming regions. Models where the X-ray emission is assumed to be isotropic run into…
We report on the detection of the linear rms-flux relation in two accreting white dwarf binary systems: V1504 Cyg and KIC 8751494. The rms-flux relation relates the absolute root-mean-square (rms) variability of the light curve to its mean…
Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are X-ray binary systems containing an accreting neutron star (NS) or black hole emitting at luminosities above the Eddington limit of a $10M_{\odot}$ black hole. Approximately 1900 (either confirmed or…
We report the detection of flaring events in NGC 4395 ULX1, a nearby ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX), for the first time, using recent XMM-NEWTON observations. The flaring episodes are spectrally harder than the steady emission intervals,…