Related papers: Ultra-luminous X-ray sources: extreme accretion an…

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…

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…

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…

Winds are an important ingredient in the evolution of X-ray binary (XRB) systems, particularly those at high accretion rates such as ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs), because they may regulate the accretion of matter onto the compact…

We present results of a Chandra survey of the ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULX) in 13 normal galaxies, in which we combine source detection with X-ray flux measurement. 22 ULX were detected, i.e. with L_x > 1 x 10^{39} erg s^{-1} (L_10),…

We consider observational tests for the nature of Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). These must distinguish between thermal-timescale mass transfer on to stellar-mass black holes leading to anisotropic X-ray emission, and accretion on to…

We present a new analysis of X-ray spectra of the archetypal ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) Holmberg IX X-1 obtained by the Swift, XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observatories. This ULX is a persistent source, with a typical luminosity of ~10^40…

Motivated by the recent discoveries that six Ultraluminous X-ray Sources (ULXs) are powered by highly super-Eddington X-ray pulsars, we searched for additional pulsating ULX (PULX) candidates by identifying sources that exhibit long-term…

We report the first results of the Chandra temporal monitoring of the ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in the Antennae galaxies (NGC 4038/39). Observations at four different epochs, covering time scales of 2 years to 2 months, show…

The most extreme ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), with $L_\mathrm{X} > 5 \times 10^{40}$ erg s$^{-1}$, are amongst the best candidates for hosting intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in the haloes of galaxies. Jet radio emission 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 subset of ultraluminous X-ray sources (those with luminosities < 10^40 erg/s) are thought to be powered by the accretion of gas onto black holes with masses of ~5-20 M_solar, probably via an accretion disc. The X-ray and radio emission…

I suggest that stellar coalescence in mid-size protoclusters (M ~ 10^{3.5} - 10^{4.5} M_sun) is a possible scenario for the formation of ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs). More massive super-star-clusters are not needed, since the most…

Accretion discs in strong gravity ubiquitously produce winds, seen as blueshifted absorption lines in the X-ray band of both stellar mass X-ray binaries (black holes and neutron stars), and supermassive black holes. Some of the most…

We consider the three currently known pulsing ultraluminous X--ray sources (PULXs). We show that in one of them the observed spinup rate requires super--Eddington accretion rates at the magnetospheric radius, even if magnetar--strength…

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…

General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations have been instrumental in our understanding of high energy astrophysical phenomena over the past two decades. Their robustness and modularity make them a great tool for…

Multiwavelength observations may help us understand the physical nature of the ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) found in external galaxies. Enabled by the arcsecond X-ray source positions now available from Chandra, there has been…

Recent Chandra observations of nearby galaxies have revealed a number of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with super-Eddington luminosities, away from the central regions of non-active galaxies. The nature of these sources is still…

Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are thought to be powerful X-ray binaries (XRBs) and may contribute significantly to the redshift-dependent X-ray emission from star forming galaxies. We have assembled a uniform sample of 259 ULXs over…