Related papers: Compact radio emission in Ultraluminous X-ray sour…

We present the results from an X-ray and optical study of a new sample of eight extreme luminosity ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) candidates, which were selected as the brightest ULXs (with L_X > 5x10^40 erg/s) located within 100 Mpc…

We present high-sensitivity Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations of four ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs): Holmberg II X-1, IC 342 X-1, NGC 6946 X-1, and NGC 925 X-1. No compact emission was detected on milliarcsecond…

Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are some of the brightest phenomena found outside of a galaxy's nucleus, and their explanation typically invokes accretion of material onto a black hole. Here, we perform the largest population study to…

In the last few years multiwavelength observations have boosted our understanding of Ultraluminous X-ray Sources (ULXs). Yet, the most fundamental questions on ULXs still remain to be definitively answered: do they contain stellar or…

We have searched for ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in a sample of 28 elliptical and S0 galaxies observed with Chandra. We find that the number of X-ray sources detected at a flux level that would correspond to a 0.3-10 keV X-ray…

We have used XMM-Newton's Optical Monitor (OM) images to study the local environment of a sample of 27 Ultraluminous X-ray Sources (ULXs) in nearby galaxies. UVW1 fluxes were extracted from 100 pc regions centered on the ULX positions. We…

The nature of the ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in the nearby galaxies is a matter of debates. One of the popular hypothesis associates them with accretion at a sub-Eddington rate on to intermediate mass black holes. Another…

A sub-set of the brightest ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), with X-ray luminosities well above $10^{40}$ erg s$^{-1}$, typically have energy spectra which can be well described as hard power-laws, and short-term variability in excess of…

Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are some of the most enigmatic X-ray bright sources known to date. It is generally accepted that they cannot host black holes as large as those associated with active galaxies, but they appear to be…

Evidence is mounting that some Ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) may contain accreting intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs). We review the current observational evidence for IMBH-ULXs. While low-luminosity ULXs with L_X <~ 10^39.5 erg/s…

In recent work with high-resolution grating spectrometers (RGS) aboard XMM-Newton Pinto et al. (2016) have discovered that two bright and archetypal ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) have strong relativistic winds in agreement with…

Ultraluminous X-ray sources are non-nuclear point sources exceeding the Eddington luminosity of a 10 Solar mass black hole. Modern consensus for a majority of the ULX population is that they are powered by stellar-mass black holes or…

We present the results of optical panoramic and long-slit spectroscopy of the nebula MF16 associated with the Ultraluminous X-ray Source NGC6946 ULX-1. More than 20 new emission lines are identified in the spectra. Using characteristic line…

We have studied the face-on, barred spiral NGC 7424 (site of the rare Type IIb SN 2001ig) with Chandra, Gemini and the Australia Telescope Compact Array. After giving revised X-ray colours and luminosity of the supernova, here we focus on…

The X-ray source CXO J133815.6+043255 has counterparts in the UV, optical, and radio bands. Based on the multi-band investigations, it has been recently proposed by Kim et al. (2015) as a rarely-seen off-nucleus ultraluminous X-ray (ULX)…

We present the results of an archival XMM-Newton study of the bright X-ray point sources (L_X > 10^38 erg/s) in 32 nearby galaxies. From our list of approximately 100 point sources, we attempt to determine if there is a low-state…

ULX-7, in the northern spiral arm of M51, demonstrates unusual behaviour for an ultraluminous X-ray source, with a hard X-ray spectrum but very high short-term variability. This suggests that it is not in a typical ultraluminous state. We…

Gravitational waves from the binary black hole (BH) merger GW150914 may enlighten our understanding of ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs), as BHs>30Msun can reach luminosities>4x10^39 erg s^-1 without exceeding their Eddington limit. It is…

We present results from a Chandra study of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in a sample of 17 nearby (D_L<60 Mpc) luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs), selected to have star formation rates (SFRs) in excess of 7 M_sun yr^-1 and low…

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…