The rare X-ray flaring activity of the Ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 4559 X7
Fabio Pintore, S. Motta, C. Pinto, M. G. Bernardini, G. Rodriguez-Castillo, R. Salvaterra, G. L. Israel, P. Esposito, E. Ambrosi, C. Salvaggio, L. Zampieri, A. Wolter
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Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 14 pages, 10 figures and 2 tables
Ultraluminous X-ray sources are considered amongst the most extremely accreting objects in the local Universe. The recent discoveries of pulsating neutron stars in ULXs strengthened the scenario of highly super-Eddington accretion mechanisms on stellar mass compact objects. In this work, we present the first long-term light curve of the source NGC 4559 X7 using all the available Swift, XMM-Newton, Chandra and NuSTAR data. Thanks to the high quality 2019 XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations, we investigated in an unprecedented way the spectral and temporal properties of NGC 4559 X7. The source displayed flux variations of up to an order of magnitude and an unusual flaring activity. We modelled the spectra from NGC 4559 X7 with a combination of two thermal components, testing also the addition of a further high energy cut-off powerlaw. We observed a spectral hardening associated with a luminosity increase during the flares, and a spectral softening in the epochs far from the flares. Narrow absorption and emission lines were also found in the RGS spectra, suggesting the presence of an outflow. Furthermore, we measured hard and (weak) soft lags with magnitudes of a few hundreds of seconds whose origin is possibly be due to the accretion flow. We interpret the source properties in terms of a super-Eddington accretion scenario assuming the compact object is either a light stellar mass black hole or a neutron star.
We studied the apparent galaxy pair NGC 1232 / NGC 1232A with Chandra, looking for evidence of interactions and collisions. We report that there is no cloud of diffuse emission in NGC 1232, contrary to previous claims in the literature. Instead, we find that the small "companion" galaxy NGC 1232A contains three ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with peak 0.3-10 keV luminosities above 10^{40} erg/s (assuming a cosmological distance of 93 Mpc for this galaxy). For its mass, morphology, metal abundance and bright ULX population, NGC 1232A is analogous to the more nearby late-type spiral NGC 1313…
NGC 925 ULX-1 and ULX-2 are two ultraluminous X-ray sources in the galaxy NGC 925, at a distance of 8.5 Mpc. For the first time, we analyzed high quality, simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR data of both sources. Although at a first glance ULX-1 resembles an intermediate mass black hole candidate (IMBH) because of its high X-ray luminosity ($(2$$-$$4)\times10^{40}$ erg s$^{-1}$) and its spectral/temporal features, a closer inspection shows that its properties are more similar to those of a typical super-Eddington accreting stellar black hole and we classify it as a `broadened disc' ultraluminou…
NGC 55 ULX1 is a bright Ultraluminous X-ray source located 1.78 Mpc away. We analysed a sample of 20 Swift observations, taken between 2013 April and August, and two Chandra observations taken in 2001 September and 2004 June. We found only marginal hints of a limited number of dips in the light curve, previously reported to occur in this source, although the uncertainties due to the low counting statistics of the data are large. The Chandra and Swift spectra showed clearly spectral variability which resembles those observed in other ULXs. We can account for this spectral variability in terms o…
An X-ray flaring source was found near the galaxy NGC 4697. Two flares were seen, separated by four years. The flux increased by a factor of 90 on a timescale of about one minute. Both flares were very brief. There is no optical counterpart at the position of the flares, but if the source was at the distance of NGC 4697, the luminosities were 10^39 erg/s. Here we report the results of a search of archival X-ray data for 70 nearby galaxies looking for similar such flares. We found two flaring sources in globular clusters or ultra-compact dwarf companions of parent elliptical galaxies. One sourc…
We present the results of a search for optical counterparts of ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) X-1 in the nearby galaxy NGC 2500 by using archival images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope ({\it HST}) Wide Field Camera (WFC3)/UVIS. Four optical sources have been identified as possible counterparts within the 2$σ$ error radius of 0.3 arcsec in the images. However, only two of them were investigated as candidates for counterparts due to their point-like features and their identification in various filters. These two faint candidates have absolute magnitudes of $M_{\rm V}$ $\approx$ -3.4 and …
A sub-set of the brightest ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), with X-ray luminosities well above $10^{40}$ erg s$^{-1}$, typically have energy spectra which can be well described as hard power-laws, and short-term variability in excess of $\sim10\%$. This combination of properties suggests that these ULXs may be some of the best candidates to host intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs), which would be accreting at sub-Eddington rates in the hard state seen in Galactic X-ray binaries. In this work, we present a temporal and spectral analysis of all of the available XMM-Newton data from one such…
We present results obtained from two broadband X-ray observations of the extreme ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC5907 ULX1, known to have a peak X-ray luminosity of ~5e40 erg/s. These XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations, separated by only ~4 days, revealed an extreme level of short-term flux variability. In the first epoch, NGC5907 ULX1 was undetected by NuSTAR, and only weakly detected (if at all) with XMM-Newton, while in the second NGC5907 ULX1 was clearly detected at high luminosity by both missions. This implies an increase in flux of ~2 orders of magnitude or more during this ~4 day w…
We analyzed the longest phase-connected photometric dataset available for NGC 1313 X-2, looking for the ~6 day modulation reported by Liu et al. (2009). The folded B band light curve shows a 6 day periodicity with a significance slightly larger than 3 sigma. The low statistical significance of this modulation, along with the lack of detection in the V band, make its identification uncertain.
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 energy distribution of the NGC4559 X-10 counterpart is well fitted by a spectrum of an F-type star, whereas NGC4395 ULX-1 has a blue power-law spectrum. Optical spectroscopy of NGC4395 ULX-1 has shown a broad and variable HeII~$λ$4686 emission, which puts this object in line with all the other spectrally-studied ULXs. Using the Swift archival X-ray data for N…
We analyzed the longest phase-connected photometric dataset available for NGC 1313 X-2, looking for the ~6 day modulation reported by Liu et al. (2009). The folded B band light curve shows a 6 days periodicity with a significance slightly larger than 3 sigma. The low statistical significance of this modulation, along with the lack of detection in the V band, make its identification uncertain.
I report the analysis of an ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) located in the galaxy NGC 1291. This X-ray point source is denominated IXO6 in the Catalog of Candidate IXO (Colbert & Ptak). An Intermediate-luminosity X-ray Object (IXO) is defined as an off-nuclear, compact object with luminosity Lx [2-10keV] >= 1039 erg s-1. The cutoff Lx is defined as a value greater than the Eddington luminosity of a 1.4 Mo black hole (10 38.3 erg s-1). IXO is an early denomination of what is call now a ULX point source. The Catalog was derived from a ROSAT survey and represents 87 IXOS in 54 galaxies. IXO6 was…
X-ray monitoring observations were performed with the Swift observatory of the ultraluminous X-ray sources Holmberg IX X-1, NGC 5408 X-1, and NGC 4395 X-2 and also of the nuclear X-ray source in NGC 4395. Holmberg IX X-1 remains in the hard X-ray spectral state as its flux varies by a factor of 7 up to an (isotropic) luminosity of 2.8E40 erg/s. This behavior may suggest an unusually massive compact object. We find excess power at periods near 60 days and 28 days in the X-ray emission from Holmberg IX X-1. Additional monitoring is required to test the significance of these signals. NGC 5408 X-1…
In recent work with high-resolution grating spectrometers (RGS) aboard XMM-Newton Pinto et al. (2016) have discovered that two bright and archetypal ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) have strong relativistic winds in agreement with theoretical predictions of high accretion rates. It has been proposed that such winds can become optically thick enough to block and reprocess the disk X-ray photons almost entirely, making the source appear as a soft thermal emitter or ultraluminous supersoft X-ray source (ULS). To test this hypothesis we have studied a ULX where the wind is strong enough to cause…
We present a high-quality hard X-ray spectrum of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC 5643 X-1 measured with NuSTAR in May-June 2014. We have obtained this spectrum by carefully separating the signals from the ULX and from the active nucleus of its host galaxy NGC 5643 located 0.8 arcmin away. Together with long XMM-Newton observations performed in July 2009 and August 2014, the NuSTAR data confidently reveal a high-energy cutoff in the spectrum of NGC 5643 X-1 above ~10 keV, which is a characteristic signature of ULXs. The NuSTAR and XMM-Newton data are consistent with the source having a…
We report the discovery of a new ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) associated with a globular cluster in the elliptical galaxy NGC 4649. The X-ray source was initially detected with a luminosity below 5 x 10^38 erg/s, but in subsequent observations 7 and 11 years later it had brightened substantially to 2 - 3 x 10^39 erg/s. Over the course of six separate observations it displayed significant spectral variability, in both continuum slope and absorption column. Short-term variability in the X-ray flux was also present in at least one observation. The properties of this object appear consistent w…
NGC 7793 P13 is a variable (luminosity range ~100) ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) proposed to host a stellar-mass black hole of less than 15 M$_{\odot}$ in a binary system with orbital period of 64 d and a 18-23 M$_{\odot}$ B9Ia companion. Within the EXTraS project we discovered pulsations at a period of ~0.42 s in two XMM-Newton observations of NGC 7793 P13, during which the source was detected at $L_{\mathrm{X}}\sim2.1\times10^{39}$ and $5\times10^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$ (0.3-10 keV band). These findings unambiguously demonstrate that the compact object in NGC 7793 P13 is a neutron star accreti…
We have identified three ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) hosted by globular clusters (GCs) within NGC 1316's stellar system. These discoveries bring the total number of known ULXs in GCs up to 20. We find that the X-ray spectra of the three new sources do not deviate from the established pattern of spectral behaviour of the other known GC ULXs. The consistency of the X-ray spectral behaviour for these sources points to multiple paths of formation and evolution mechanisms for these rare and unique sources. Using the now larger sample of GC ULXs, we compare the optical properties of the entir…
We present the results from coordinated X-ray observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 5204 X-1 performed by NuSTAR and XMM-Newton in early 2013. These observations provide the first detection of NGC 5204 X-1 above 10 keV, extending the broadband coverage to 0.3-20 keV. The observations were carried out in two epochs separated by approximately 10 days, and showed little spectral variation, with an observed luminosity of Lx = (4.95+/-0.11)e39 erg/s. The broadband spectrum confirms the presence of a clear spectral downturn above 10 keV seen in some previous observations. This cutoff is…
We discovered and studied an ultraluminous X-ray source (CXOU J203451.1+601043) that appeared in the spiral galaxy NGC 6946 at some point between 2008 February and 2012 May, and has remained at luminosities $\approx$2-4 $\times 10^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$ in all observations since then. Our spectral modelling shows that the source is generally soft, but with spectral variability from epoch to epoch. Using standard empirical categories of the ultraluminous regimes, we find that CXOU J203451.1+601043 was consistent with a broadened disk state in 2012, but was in a transitional state approaching the su…
We report the detection of a 115 day periodicity in SWIFT/XRT monitoring data from the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC 5408 X-1. Our ongoing campaign samples its X-ray flux approximately twice weekly and has now achieved a temporal baseline of ~485 days. Periodogram analysis reveals a significant periodicity with a period of 115.5 +- 4 days. The modulation is detected with a significance of 3.2 e-4. The fractional modulation amplitude decreases with increasing energy, ranging from 0.13 above 1 keV to 0.24 below 1 keV. The shape of the profile evolves as well, becoming less sharply peaked …
We report on XMM-Newton/Chandra/Swift/HST observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in NGC 247, which is found to make transitions between the supersoft ultraluminous (SSUL) regime with a spectrum dominated by a cool ($\sim 0.1$ keV) blackbody component and the soft ultraluminous (SUL) regime with comparable luminosities shared by the blackbody and power-law components. Multi-epoch observations revealed an anti-correlation between the blackbody radius and temperature, $R_{\rm bb} \propto T_{\rm bb}^{-2.8 \pm 0.3}$, ruling out a standard accretion disk as the origin of the soft X-ray…
Evidence for candidate X-ray pulsations from the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 7456 ULX-1
School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University（南京大学天文与空间科学学院）；Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Nanjing University), Ministry of Education（南京大学现代天文与天体物理教育部重点实验室）
We report the detection of coherent pulsations from the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 7793 P13. The ~0.42s nearly sinusoidal pulsations were initially discovered in broadband X-ray observations using XMM-Newton and NuSTAR taken in 2016. We subsequently also found pulsations in archival XMM-Newton data taken in 2013 and 2014. The significant (>>5 sigma) detection of coherent pulsations demonstrates that the compact object in P13 is a neutron star with an observed peak luminosity of ~1e40 erg/s (assuming isotropy), well above the Eddington limit for a 1.4 M_sun accretor. This makes P13 the seco…
Transient ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) provide an important link bridging transient low-mass X-ray binaries and ULXs. Here we report the first discovery of both a canonical sub-Eddington outburst and an ultraluminous super-Eddington outburst from an unusual transient ULX, NGC 7793 P9 with a variability factor higher than $10^3$. Its X-ray spectrum switches between the typical high/soft state and the steep power-law state during the canonical outburst. The inner radius of the accretion disk and the disk temperature--luminosity correlation suggest that P9 harbors a stellar-mass black hole …
We present a systematic analysis of the X-ray spectra of NGC 1313 X-1 and NGC 1313 X-2, using three years of XMM-Newton observations. We fitted the continuum with a Comptonization model plus a multicolor blackbody disc, that describes the effects of an accretion disc plus a corona. We checked the consistency of this spectral model on the basis of the variability patterns of its spectral parameters. We found that the two sources show different spectral states. We tentatively interpret the observed behaviour of NGC 1313 X-1 and X-2 within the framework of near Eddington and/or super-Eddington ac…
We report on a new XMM-Newton observation of NGC 247 from December 2009. The galaxy contains a supersoft, ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) whose spectrum consists of a thermal component with a temperature about 0.1 keV and a power-law tail with a photon index around 2.5. The thermal emission is absolutely the dominant component, contributing 96% of the total luminosity in the 0.3-10 keV band. Variability is detected at timescales of 10^2 s and longer with a ν^-1 power spectrum. These properties are consistent with black hole binaries in the thermal state and suggest the presence of an intermed…
The accreting compact objects in most of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are likely to be neutron stars rather than black holes as suggested by the recent detection of periodic pulsations from some of these sources located in neighboring galaxies and one ULX that has hitherto been discovered in our own galaxy. As a member of the ULX family, NGC 300 ULX1 is a new pulsating ULX (PULX) spinning up at substantially high rates compared with other PULXs. In this paper, the strength of the magnetic field on the surface of the neutron star is inferred from the energy of the cyclotron absorption lin…
Ultra-Luminous X-ray sources are accreting black holes that might represent strong evidence of the Intermediate Mass Black Holes (IMBH), proposed to exist by theoretical studies but with no firm detection (as a class) so far. We analyze the best X-ray timing and spectral data from the ULX in NGC 5408 provided by XMM-Newton. The main goal is to study the broad-band noise variability of the source. We found an anti-correlation of the fractional root-mean square variability versus the intensity of the source, similar to black-hole binaries during hard states.
Ultraluminous x-ray sources (ULXs) in nearby galaxies shine brighter than any X-ray source in our Galaxy. ULXs are usually modeled as stellar-mass black holes (BHs) accreting at very high rates or intermediate-mass BHs. We present observations showing that NGC5907 ULX is instead an x-ray accreting neutron star (NS) with a spin period evolving from 1.43~s in 2003 to 1.13~s in 2014. It has an isotropic peak luminosity of about 1000 times the Eddington limit for a NS at 17.1~Mpc. Standard accretion models fail to explain its luminosity, even assuming beamed emission, but a strong multipolar magne…
Most ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are believed to be stellar mass black holes or neutron stars accreting beyond the Eddington limit. Determining the nature of the compact object and the accretion mode from broadband spectroscopy is currently a challenge, but the observed timing properties provide insight into the compact object and details of the geometry and accretion processes. Here we report a timing analysis for an 800 ks XMM-Newton campaign on the supersoft ultraluminous X-ray source, NGC 247 ULX-1. Deep and frequent dips occur in the X-ray light curve, with the amplitude increasing…
NGC 4472 is home to five ultraluminous X-ray sources hosted by globular clusters. These sources have been suggested as good black hole candidates in extragalactic globular clusters$-$ a highly sought after population that may provide observational information regarding the progenitors of merging black hole binaries. In this body of work, we present X-ray and optical follow up to one of these sources, CXOUJ1229410+075744 (GCU1). We find no evidence of [OIII] optical emission in GCU1 which indicates a lack of significant evidence for super-Eddington outflows, unlike what is seen in a handful of …
Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are a class of accreting compact objects with X-ray luminosities above 1e39 erg/s. The ULX population counts several hundreds objects but only a minor fraction is well studied. Here we present a detailed analysis of all ULXs hosted in the galaxy NGC 7456. It was observed in X-rays only once in the past (in 2005) by XMM-Newton, but the observation was short and strongly affected by high background. In 2018, we obtained a new, deeper (~90 ks) XMM-Newton observation that allowed us to perform a detailed characterization of the ULXs hosted in the galaxy. ULX-1 an…
We report the detection of weak pulsations from the archetypal ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC 1313 X-2. Acceleration searches reveal sinusoidal pulsations in segments of two out of six new deep observations of this object, with a period of $\sim$ 1.5 s and a pulsed fraction of $\sim$ 5%. We use Monte Carlo simulations to demonstrate that the individual detections are unlikely to originate in false Poisson noise detections given their very close frequencies; their strong similarity to other pulsations detected from ULXs also argues they are real. The presence of a large bubble nebula surr…
We present our analysis of the X-ray variability of two ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) based on multiple XMM--Newton observations. We show the linear rms-flux relation is present in eight observations of NGC5408 X-1 and also in three observations of NGC6946 X-1, but data from other ULXs are generally not sufficient to constrain any rms-flux relation. The presence of this relation was previously reported in only two observations of NGC 5408X-1; our results show this is a persistent property of the variability of NGC5408 X-1 and extends to at least one other variable ULX. We speculate this i…
In this study, we report identification of a new ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) named as X-7 in NGC 1316, with an unabsorbed luminosity of 2.1$\times$10$^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$ using the two recent Chandra archival observations. The X-7 was detected in the Chandra 2001 observation and was included in the source list of the NGC 1316 as CXOUJ032240.8-371224 with a luminosity of 5.7$\times$10$^{38}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Present luminosity implies a luminosity increase of a factor of $\sim$ 4. The best fit spectral model parameters indicate that X-7 has a relatively hot disk and hard spectra. If explained …
We report the discovery of a new candidate ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in the nearby edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 891. The source, which has an absorbed flux of F_X ~ 10^-12 erg/s/cm^2 (corresponding to L_X > 10^40 erg/s at 9 Mpc), must have begun its outburst in the past 5 years as it is not detected in prior X-ray observations between 1986 and 2006. We try empirical fits to the XMM-Newton spectrum, finding that the spectrum is fit very well as emission from a hot disk, a cool irradiated disk, or blurred reflection from the innermost region of the disk. The simplest physically motivated mod…
We present evidence for three spin-down glitches (or `anti-glitches') in the ultraluminous accreting X-ray pulsar NGC 300 ULX-1 in timing observations made with the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER). Our timing analysis reveals three sudden spin-down events of magnitudes $Δν= -23, -30,$ and $-43 \,μ$Hz (fractional amplitudes $Δν/ν= -4.4, -5.5,$ and $-7.7 \times 10^{-4}$). We determined fully phase-coherent timing solutions through the first two glitches, giving us high confidence in their detection, while the third candidate glitch is somewhat less secure. These are larger in …
The Type IIn supernova (SN) 1978K in the nearby galaxy NGC 1313 has remained bright in multiwavelengths for more than $\sim 25$ yr. The archival data of SN 1978K collected with ROSAT, ASCA, XMM-Newton, and Chandra from 1990 to 2006 show no significant variation of the soft X-ray emission but a hint of flux decrease in hard X-rays. In this work, we perform a detailed analysis using more than 15 yr of XMM-Newton observations. Both the 0.5-2 keV and 2-10 keV light-curves decline as $t^{-1}$ from 2000 to 2015. The transition of light curve profiles can be explained in a way that the reverse shock …
We performed a detailed broadband spectral and timing analysis of a small flaring event of ~120 ks in a narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4051 using simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations. The ~300 ks long NuSTAR observation and the overlapping XMM-Newton exposure were segregated into pre-flare, flare, and post-flare segments. During the flare, the NuSTAR count rate peaked at 2.5 times the mean count rate before the flare. Using various physical and phenomenological models, we examined the 0.3-50 keV X-ray spectrum, which consists of a primary continuum, reprocessed emission, warm abso…
We present the results of high-quality XMM-NEWTON observations of a ULX in the galaxy NGC 4190. The detection of spectral cutoff in NGC 4190 ULX1 spectra rules out the interpretation of the ULX to be in a standard low/hard canonical accretion state. We report that the high quality EPIC spectra can be better described by broad thermal component, such as a slim disk. In addition we found long term spectral and flux variability in the source using several XMM-NEWTON and Swift data. A clear anti-correlation between flux and power-law photon index is found which further confirms the unusual spectra…
Variability is a powerful tool to investigate properties of X-ray binaries (XRB), in particular for Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) that are mainly detected in the X-ray band. For most ULXs the nature of the accretor is unknown, although a few ULXs have been confirmed to be accreting at super-Eddington rates onto a neutron star (NS). Monitoring these sources is particularly useful both to detect transients and to derive periodicities, linked to orbital and super-orbital modulations. Here we present the results of our monitoring campaign of the galaxy NGC 925, performed with the Neil Gehrels…
We report the results of spectral and temporal variability studies of the ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) contained within the interacting pair of galaxies NGC 4485/4490, combining Chandra and XMM-Newton observations. Each of the four separate observations provide at least modest quality spectra and light curves for each of the six previously identified ULXs in this system; we also note the presence of a new transient ULX in the most recent observation. No short-term variability was observed for any ULX within our sample, but three out of five sources show correlated flux/spectral changes o…
Ultraluminous pulsars are a definite proof that persistent super-Eddington accretion occurs in nature. They support the scenario according to which most Ultraluminous X-ray Sources (ULXs) are super-Eddington accretors of stellar mass rather than sub-Eddington intermediate mass black holes. An important prediction of theories of supercritical accretion is the existence of powerful outflows of moderately ionized gas at mildly relativistic speeds. In practice, the spectral resolution of X-ray gratings such as RGS onboard XMM-Newton is required to resolve their observational signatures in ULXs. Us…
Archival {\it XMM-Newton}, {\it Chandra} and {\it Hubble Space Telescope (HST)} data have been used to study the X-ray and optical properties of two candidate ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in NGC\,4536. In order to search for potential optical counterparts, relative astrometry between {\it Chandra} and {\it HST} was improved, and as a result, optical counterparts were detected for both X-ray sources. To complement our findings (based on the archival data), ground-based optical spectra of the counterparts were obtained with the 6m BTA Telescope located at the Special Astrophysical Observat…
NGC 5408 X-1 is a well-studied ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) that has been seen to emit in X-rays persistently above the Eddington limit of a stellar-mass black hole for years. In this paper we report on the most extensive X-ray monitoring of a ULX, using more than four years of observations from the Swift satellite. We find that the 115 day periodicity reported by Strohmayer (2009) disappeared after only a few cycles, confirming the suspicion of Foster et al. (2010) that the periodicity is most likely super-orbital and not the orbital period of the system. We also report on a clear dipping…
Dynamical mass measurements hold the key to answering whether ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) or stellar mass black holes with special radiation mechanisms. NGC 1313 X-2 is so far the only ULX with HST light curves, the orbital period, and the black hole's radial velocity amplitude based on the He II $\lambda4686$Å disk emission line shift of $\sim200$ km/s. We constrain its black hole mass and other parameters by fitting observations to a binary light curve code with accommodations for X-ray heating of the accretion disk and the secondary. Given th…
We obtained 3 epochs of simultaneous Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Wide Field Camera 3 and Chandra observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 5408 X-1. The counterpart of the X-ray source is seen in all HST filters, from the UV through the NIR, and for the first time, we resolve the optical nebula around the ULX. We identified a small OB association near the ULX that may be the birthplace of the system. The stellar association is young, ~ 5 Myr, contains massive stars up to 40 solar masses, and is thus similar to associations seen near other ULXs, albeit younger. The UV/Optical/NIR spec…
We report X-ray spectral variability in an ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 1042 ULX1, using archival XMM-Newton and recent NuSTAR observations. In long-term evolution, the source has shown a trend of variation in spectral hardness. The variability in different XMM-Newton observations is prominent above $\sim 1$ keV. Cool thermal disk component with a characteristic temperature of $\sim 0.2$ keV manifests that the spectral state of NGC 1042 ULX1 in all epochs is similar to that of the ultraluminous state sources. An apparent anti-correlation between luminosity and powerlaw index demonstrates tha…
We perform empirical fits to the \emph{Chandra} and \emph{XMM-Newton} spectra of three ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 891, monitoring the region over a seventeen year time window. One of these sources has been visible since the early 1990s with \emph{ROSAT} and has been observed multiple times with \emph{Chandra} and \emph{XMM-Newton}. Another has been visible since 2011. We build upon prior analyses of these sources by analyzing all available data at all epochs. Where possible \emph{Chandra} data is used, since its superior spatial resolution allows for mo…
A candidate proton cyclotron feature in the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 4656 ULX-1
Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata（拉普拉塔国立大学天文与地球物理科学学院）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)（加那利天体物理学研究所）；Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna（拉古纳大学天体物理学系）；Space Telescope Science Institute（太空望远镜科学研究所）；Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía (CCT La Plata, CONICET（阿根廷射电天文学研究所）；CICPBA（意大利国家天体物理研究所卡利亚里天文台）；UNLP)（空间科学研究所）；INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari（加泰罗尼亚空间研究学院）；Institute of Space Sciences (ICE, CSIC)；Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC)
We report on results from a one-year soft X-ray observing campaign of the ultraluminous X-ray pulsar NGC 300 ULX-1 by the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) during 2018--2019. Our analysis also made use of data from Swift/XRT and XMM-Newton in order to model and remove contamination from the nearby eclipsing X-ray binary NGC 300 X-1. We constructed and fitted a series of 5-day averaged NICER spectra of NGC 300 ULX-1 in the 0.4--4.0 keV range to evaluate the long-term spectral evolution of the source, and found that an absorbed power-law model provided the best fit overall. Over…
Based on our long (~ 300 ks) 2007 XMM-Newton observation of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1365, we report here on the spectral and timing behaviour of two ultraluminous X-ray sources, which had previously reached isotropic X-ray luminosities L_X ~ 4 x 10^{40} erg/s (0.3-10 keV band). In 2007, they were in a lower state (L_X ~ 5 x 10^{39} erg/s, and L_X ~ 1.5 x 10^{39} erg/s for X1 and X2, respectively). Their X-ray spectra were dominated by power-laws with photon indices Gamma ~ 1.8 and Gamma ~ 1.2, respectively. Thus, their spectra were similar to those at their outburst peaks. Both sources have bee…
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. Here we report the results of two simultaneous XMM-Newton and HST observations of this PULX taken to observe two distinct X-ray behaviours as defined from its Swift light curve. We find that the X-ray spectrum of the PULX is best described by the hard ultraluminous (HUL) regime during the observation taken in the lower flux, lower variability amplitude behav…
We present results of new XMM-Newton observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC 5408 X-1, one of the few ULXs to show quasi-periodic oscillations (QPO). We detect QPOs in each of four new (~ 100 ks) pointings, expanding the range of frequencies observed from 10 - 40 mHz. We compare our results with the timing and spectral correlations seen in stellar-mass black hole systems, and find that the qualitative nature of the timing and spectral behavior of NGC 5408 X-1 is similar to systems in the steep power-law state exhibiting Type-C QPOs. However, in order for this analogy to quanti…
Aims. We analyzed multi-epoch X-ray data of the Ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC 5055 X-1, with luminosity up to $2.32\times10^{40}\ \rm erg\ s^{-1}$, in order to constrain the physical parameters of the source. Methods. We performed timing and spectral analysis of Chandra and XMM-Newton observations. We used spectral models which assume the emission is from an accreting black hole system. We fit the data with a multicolor disk (MCD) combined with a powerlaw (PL) or a thermal Comptonization (NTHCOMP) component, and compared those fits with a slim disk model. Results. The lightcurves of the…
Ultraluminous X-ray sources are non-nuclear point sources exceeding the Eddington luminosity of a 10 Solar mass black hole. Modern consensus for a majority of the ULX population is that they are powered by stellar-mass black holes or neutron stars accreting well above the Eddington limit. Theoretical models of super-Eddington accretion predict existence of powerful outflows of moderately ionised gas at mildly relativistic velocities. So far, these winds have been found in 3 systems: NGC 1313 X-1, NGC 5408 X-1, NGC 55 ULX. In this work, we create a sample of all ULXs with usable archival high r…
