Related papers: HLX-1 may be an SS433 system
The point-like X-ray source HLX-1 is the brightest known ultraluminous X-ray source and likely the strongest intermediate-mass black hole candidate. HLX-1 is hosted in the S0 galaxy ESO 243-49, but offset with respect to the nucleus, and…
Some ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) exhibit X-ray pulses, and their central sources are thought to be neutron stars. It has also been suggested that some are transient sources with Be-type donors. In this study, we use the mass…
We present a summary of our ongoing efforts to study one of the brightest ultraluminous X-ray source, NGC 1313 X-2. Despite a large coverage in the X-rays, much of the information we have about the source and its environment comes from…
We report on six Chandra and one HST/WFC3 observation of CXO J122518.6+144545, discovered by Jonker et al. (2010) as a candidate hyperluminous X-ray source (HLX), X-ray bright supernova or recoiling supermassive black hole at $L_X = 2.2…
We present a systematic analysis of archival HST WFPC2 ``Association'' data sets that correlate with the Chandra positions of a set of 44 ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) of nearby galaxies. We have improved the Chandra-HST relative…
The ultra-luminous X-ray (ULX) source ESO 243-49 HLX-1 currently provides the strongest evidence for the existence of intermediate mass black holes. We conduct an ongoing monitoring campaign with the Swift X-ray Telescope and found that…
A previously undetected X-ray source (L_X<10**36 erg/s) in the strongly star-forming galaxy M83 entered an ultraluminous state between August 2009 and December 2010. It was first seen with Chandra on 23 December 2010 at L_X ~ 4 10**39…
We present the discovery, from archival Chandra and XMM-Newton data, of X-ray eclipses in two ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), located in the same region of the galaxy M 51: CXOM51 J132940.0$+$471237 (ULX-1, for simplicity) and CXOM51…
We report on Chandra observations of the bright ultra-luminous X-ray (ULX) source in NGC3921. Previous XMM observations reported in the literature show the presence of a bright ULX at a 0.5-10 keV luminosity of 2x10^40 erg/s. Our Chandra…
We study the optical counterparts of ultraluminous X-ray sources NGC4559 X-10 and NGC4395 ULX-1. Their absolute magnitudes, after taking the reddening into account, are $M_V \approx -5.3$ and $M_V \approx -6.2$, respectively. The spectral…
We present a model for the prediction of the optical/infra-red emission from ULXs. In the model, ULXs are binary systems with accretion taking place through Roche lobe overflow. We show that irradiation effects and presence of an accretion…
SS433 is the prototype microquasar in the Galaxy and may even be analogous to the ULX sources if the jets' kinetic energy is taken into account. However, in spite of 20 years of study, our constraints on the nature of the binary system are…
We have analyzed in a systematic way about nine years of INTEGRAL data (17-100 keV) focusing on Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs) and three classical High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs). Our approach has been twofold: image based…
We studied the optical spectrum of HLX-1 during its latest outburst, using the FORS2 spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope. We detect an Halpha emission line centered at lambda = (6718.9 +/- 0.9) Ang and find that its projected radial…
Ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are a class of extra-galactic, point-like, off-nuclear X-ray sources with X-ray luminosity from $\sim 10^{39}$~erg s$^{-1}$ to $10^{41}$~erg s$^{-1}$. We investigated the temporal and broadband X-ray…
X-ray data provide insights into accretion processes and the compact objects of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), while optical and infrared (IR) observations help identify the donor star and surrounding environment. Together, these…
The presence or lack of eclipses in the X-ray lightcurves of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) can be directly linked to the accreting system geometry. In the case where the compact object is stellar mass and radiates isotropically, we…
We review recent results on populations of compact X-ray sources in normal galaxies. The luminosity distributions of low and high mass X-ray binaries in nearby galaxies appear to be described by the respective ``universal'' luminosity…
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…
The Ultra Luminous X-ray (ULX) source HLX-1 in the galaxy ESO 243-49 has an observed maximum unabsorbed X-ray luminosity of 1.3e42 erg/s (0.2-10.0 keV). From the conservative assumption that this value exceeds the Eddington limit by at most…