Related papers: Winds in ultraluminous X-ray sources: new challeng…
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…
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…
Despite much observational and theoretical effort little is presently known about the nature of the luminous non-nuclear X-ray sources which appear to largely surpass the Eddington limit of a few solar masses. Here we present first results…
Ultra-Luminous X-ray sources (ULX) are X-ray binaries with Lx>1E^39 ergs/s. The most spectacular examples of ULX occur in starburst galaxies and are now understood to be young, luminous High Mass X-ray Binaries. The conditions under which…
(Abridged) We revisit the question of the nature of ULXs through a detailed investigation of their spectral shape, using the highest quality X-ray data available in the XMM-Newton public archives. We confirm that simple spectral models…
Supercritical accretion onto compact objects is expected to drive optically thick winds, resulting in observed X-ray emission as a function of viewing angle. However, their optical emission, either from the outer accretion disk or companion…
The discovery of pulsating ultra-luminous X-ray sources (PULX) suggests that neutron stars are presumably common within the ultra-luminous X-ray source (ULX) population though the majority of the population members are currently lacking…
X-ray binaries, as bright local sources with short variability timescales for a wide range of accretion processes, represent ideal targets for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. In this chapter, we present a high-resolution X-ray spectral…
Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are non-nuclear point-like objects observed with extremely high X-ray luminosity that exceeds the Eddington limit of a $\rm10\,M_\odot$ black hole. A fraction of ULXs has been confirmed to contain neutron…
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…
Here we show that the overabundance of ultra-luminous, compact X-ray sources (ULXs) associated with moderately young clusters in interacting galaxies such as the Antennae and Cartwheel can be given an alternative explanation that does not…
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…
Using archival data from Suzaku, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR, nine representative Ultra-Luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in nearby galaxies were studied. Their X-ray spectra were all reproduced with a multi-color disk emission model plus its…
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…
Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with X-ray luminosities larger than the Eddington luminosity of stellar mass objects may be powered by intermediate mass black holes (IBHs) of masses Mbh~10^3Msun. If IBHs form in young dense stellar…
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…
Despite two decades of studies, it is still not clear whether ULX spectral transitions are due to stochastic variability in the wind or variations in the accretion rate or in the source geometry. The compact object is also unknown for most…
Ultraluminous X-ray bursts (hereafter ULXBs) are ultraluminous X-ray flares with a fast rise ($\sim$ one minute) and a slow decay ($\sim$ an hour), which are commonly observed in extragalactic globular clusters. Most ULXBs are observational…
There have been several recent claims of black hole binaries in globular clusters. I show that these candidate systems could instead be ultracompact X-ray binaries (UCXBs) in which a neutron star accretes from a white dwarf. They would…
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…