SPECTRAL STATES AND EVOLUTION OF ULTRALUMINOUS X-RAY SOURCES

Journal Article · Sun May 10 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/696/2/1712; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)· OSTI ID:21300653

Hua, Feng ^[1]; Kaaret, Philip ^[2]

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1. Department of Engineering Physics and Center for Astrophysics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Van Allen Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242 (United States)

We examined spectral evolution in ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with apparent luminosities of about 10{sup 40} erg s{sup -1}. Based on new results in this paper, and those reported in the literature, two common spectral behaviors were found. Some ULXs in starburst galaxies have varying luminosity (L) but remain in the hard state with power-law spectra and a constant, hard photon index ({gamma}). Other ULXs, such as NGC 5204 X-1, show a correlation between L and {gamma}. We interpret this L-{gamma} correlated phase as an intermediate state with hybrid properties from the thermal dominant and steep power-law states. When the spectra of NGC 5204 X-1 are fitted with a multicolor disk blackbody plus power-law model, the X-ray luminosity increases with the effective temperature of the accretion disk in a manner similar to that found in stellar-mass black hole X-ray binaries, suggesting that the emission arises from an accretion disk. The luminosity, disk size, and temperature suggest that NGC 5204 X-1 harbors a compact object more massive than stellar-mass black holes. In contrast, the disk model in IC 342 X-1 is ruled out because the luminosity decreases as the temperature increases; sources with such behavior may represent a class of objects with super-Eddington accretion. Also, we report a peculiar soft spectral feature from IC 342 X-2 and variability on a timescale of 20 ks from Holmberg II X-1. More observations are needed to test these results.

• OSTI ID: 21300653
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 696; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
ACCRETION DISKS
BLACK HOLES
COSMIC X-RAY SOURCES
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
INTERMEDIATE STATE
LUMINOSITY
MASS
PHOTONS
SPECTRA
X RADIATION