Related papers: Soft Extragalactic X-Ray Binaries at the Eddington…
We have used Chandra observations of eight bulge-less disk galaxies to identify new ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) candidates, study their high mass X-ray binary (HMXB) population, and search for low-luminosity active galactic nuclei…
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…
We report the XMM-Newton detection of a moderately bright X-ray source superimposed on the outer arms of the inactive spiral galaxy MCG-03-34-63 (z=0.0213). It is clearly offset from the nucleus (by about 19'') but well within the D25…
Observations of high-redshift quasars frequently promote suggestions of large black hole masses, whose presence so early in cosmic time is not easily explicable. I consider the parallel with ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) -- now known…
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…
The identification of the Ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) X-2 in M82 as an accreting pulsar has shed new light on the nature of a subset of ULXs, while rising new questions on the nature of the super-Eddington accretion. Here, by…
While many observed ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs, Lx > 10^39 erg s^-1) could be extragalactic X-ray binaries (XRBs) emitting close to the Eddington limit, the highest-luminosity ULXs (Lx > 3x10^39 erg s^-1) exceed the isotropic…
Most ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are argued to be powered by supercritical accretion onto compact objects. One of the key questions regarding these objects is whether or not the hard X-rays are geometrically beamed toward the…
We observed the nearby and relatively understudied ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC 4190 ULX-1 jointly with NICER and NuSTAR to investigate its broadband spectrum, timing properties, and spectral variation over time. We found NGC 4190…
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…
NGC 1313 X-2 is one of the few known pulsating ultraluminous X-ray sources (PULXs), and so is thought to contain a neutron star that accretes at highly super-Eddington rates. However, the physics of this accretion remains to be determined.…
We have obtained near-simultaneous Swift/XRT imaging and Gemini GMOS spectroscopy for the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC~300 ULX-1 (formerly designated SN~2010da). The observed X-ray emission is consistent with an inhomogeneous wind…
To test the idea that ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in external galaxies represent a class of accreting intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), we have undertaken a program to identify ULXs and a lower luminosity X-ray comparison sample…
Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with neutron star (NS) accretors challenge traditional accretion models, and have sparked a debate regarding the role of geometrical beaming and strong magnetic fields (B). The reduction of the Thomson…
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…
We propose a geometrically thick, super-Eddington accretion disk model, where an optically thick wind is not necessary, to understand ultraluminous supersoft sources (ULSs). For high mass accretion rates $\dot M \ga 30\dot M_{\rm Edd}$ and…
This paper presents a comprehensive X-ray and multi-wavelength study of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in NGC 1566 using archival Chandra, Swift/XRT, James Webb Space Telescope, JWST, and Hubble Space Telescope, HST observations. The…
The Ultra Luminous X-ray Sources (ULXs) are unique in exhibiting moderately bright X-ray luminosities, $L_{\rm x} \sim 10^{38-40} {\rm erg~s^{-1}}$, and relatively high blackbody temperatures, $\Tin \sim 1.0-2.0 {\rm keV}$. From the…
Soft, potentially thermal spectral components observed in some ULXs can be fit with models for emission from cool, optically-thick accretion disks. If that description is correct, the low temperatures that are observed imply accretion onto…
We perform radiative magnetohydrodynamics simulations in general relativity (GRRMHD) of super-Eddington disk accretion onto neutron stars endowed with a magnetic dipole corresponding to surface strengths not exceeding 100 GigaGauss.…