EVIDENCE FOR A STELLAR DISRUPTION BY AN INTERMEDIATE-MASS BLACK HOLE IN AN EXTRAGALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTER
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama, Box 870324, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1042 (United States)
We report [O III] {lambda}5007 and [N II] {lambda}6583 emission from a globular cluster harboring the ultraluminous X-ray source CXOJ033831.8 - 352604 in the Fornax elliptical galaxy NGC 1399. No accompanying Balmer emission lines are present in the spectrum. One possibility is that the forbidden lines emanate from X-ray-illuminated debris of a star that has been tidally disrupted by an intermediate-mass black hole, with this debris also feeding the black hole leading to the observed X-ray emission. The line strengths indicate that the minimum size of the emitting region is {approx}10{sup 15} cm, and if the 70 km s{sup -1} half-widths of the emission lines represent rotation around the black hole, a minimum black hole mass of 1000 M {sub sun} is implied. The non-detection of H{alpha} and H{beta} emission lines suggests a white dwarf star was disrupted, although the presence of strong nitrogen emission is somewhat of a mystery.
- OSTI ID:
- 21305095
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 712, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/712/1/L1; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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