Related papers: Luminous Supersoft X-Ray Sources in External Galax…
We apply a uniform procedure to select very soft sources from point sources observed by Chandra in 4 galaxies. This sample includes one elliptical galaxy (NGC 4967), 2 face-on spirals (M101 and M83), and an interacting galaxy (M51). We have…
A Chandra ACIS-S imaging observation of the nearby galaxy M81 (NGC 3031) reveals 9 luminous soft X-ray sources. The local environments, X-ray spectral properties, and X-ray light curves of the sources are presented and discussed in the…
We introduce a procedure to identify very soft X-ray sources (VSSs) in external galaxies. Our immediate goal was to formulate a systematic procedure to identify luminous supersoft X-ray sources (SSSs), so as to allow comparisons among…
We have studied the X-ray source population of the face-on spiral galaxy M101 (NGC 5457). Within a field of radius 17' (36 kpc at the distance of 7.2 Mpc), covered by an ultradeep (229 ks) ROSAT HRI image, 51 X-ray sources are detected with…
We report on the population of point sources discovered during an 18.5 ksec Chandra ACIS-S observation of the Sombrero Galaxy. We present the luminosity function, the spectra of the 6 brightest sources, consider correlations with globular…
We report on very soft X-ray sources (VSSs) in M31. In a survey which was most sensitive to soft sources in four 8'x8' regions covered by Chandra's ACIS-S S3 CCD, we find 33 VSSs that appear to belong to M31. Fifteen VSSs have spectral…
A Chandra X-Ray Observatory ACIS-S imaging observation is used to study the population of X-ray sources in the nearby Sab galaxy M81 (NGC 3031). A total of 177 sources are detected with 124 located within the D25 isophote to a limiting…
We present the results of Chandra observations of off-nuclear X-ray sources in the spiral galaxy M51 (NGC 5194). 113 X-ray sources have been detected in the field of view and 84 among them project within the disk of NGC 5194. Six and twenty…
We present the first results of an XMM-Newton EPIC observation of the luminous X-ray source population in the supergiant spiral galaxy M101. We have studied the properties of the fourteen most luminous sources, all of which have intrinsic…
The deepest X-ray images of M31, obtained with XMM-Newton, are examined in this paper to derive spectral and statistical properties of the population of the softest X-ray sources. Classifying supersoft X-ray sources (SSS) with criteria…
We study populations of soft and super-soft X-ray sources in nearby galaxies of various morphological types with the special emphasis on characterizing populations of stable nuclear burning accreting WDs. Analysing the content of Chandra…
XMM-Newton EPIC observations reveal the population of X-ray sources of the bright Local Group spiral galaxy M 31, a low-star-formation-rate galaxy like the Milky Way, down to a 0.2-4.5 keV luminosity of 4.4E34 erg/s. With the help of X-ray…
First discovered in the Magellanic Clouds and in the Milky Way, the largest pools of luminous supersoft X-ray sources (SSSs) now known lie in M31 and in more distant galaxies. Hundreds of newly-discovered SSSs are helping us to test models…
We present the results of two Chandra observations (separated by 1 year) of the population of X-ray sources in the spiral galaxy M51 (NGC 5194 and NGC 5195). 113 X-ray sources have been detected in an 8'.4x8'.4 region. Nine and 28 sources…
We have identified 127 discrete sources in a Chandra observation of M83, with a detection limit of ~ 3 x 10^{36} erg/s in the 0.3-8.0 keV band. We discuss the individual properties of about 20 bright sources with L_x >~ 10^{38} erg/s, and…
Chandra observations of nearby galaxies have revealed a number of X-ray sources characterized by high luminosities ($L_X > \sim10^{36}$ erg s$^{-1}$) and $k T$ in the range $100 - 350$ eV. These ``quasisoft X-ray sources'' (QSSs) are harder…
Classical supersoft X-ray sources (SSSs) are understood as close binary systems in which a massive white dwarf (WD) accretes from its companion at rates sustaining steady hydrogen burning on its surface generating bolometric luminosities of…
A deep (98.2 ks) Chandra Cycle-1 observation has revealed a wealth of discrete X-ray sources as well as diffuse emission in the nearby face-on spiral galaxy M101. From this rich dataset we have created a catalog of the 110 sources from the…
We report on possible associations between 6 globular clusters in the Virgo elliptical galaxy NGC 4472 (M49) and bright ($L_x > 10^{38}$ erg s$^{-1}$) very soft X-ray sources (VSSs). Two of the VSSs have broad-band spectral properties…
The nearby Andromeda galaxy (M31) has been observed with the ROSAT PSPC in a mosaic of 6 pointings with 25 ksec each. In the paper describing the results on the total sample of detected sources, Supper et al. (1996) also report the…