Journal article
DISCOVERY OF MILLIHERTZ X-RAY OSCILLATIONS IN A TRANSIENT ULTRALUMINOUS X-RAY SOURCE IN M82
Astrophysical journal. Letters, Vol.710(2), pp.L137-L141
02/20/2010
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/710/2/L137
Abstract
We report on the discovery of X-ray quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) at frequencies of 3-4mHz from a transient ultraluminous X-ray source X42.3+59 in M82. The QPOs are strong and broad and appear with weak or absent red noise, and are detected only in Chandra observations when the source is brighter than 1040ergs-1. The QPO behavior is similar to the type A-I QPOs found in XTE J1550 - 564, which is a subclass of low-frequency QPOs with properties in between types A and B. Therefore, we identify the QPOs in X42.3+59 as of type A or B and rule out the possibility of type C. With this identification, the mass of the black hole in X42.3+59 can be inferred as in the range of 12,000-43,000 solar masses by scaling the QPO frequency to that of the type A/B QPOs in stellar mass black holes. Cool disk emission is detected in one Chandra observation, and the disk inner radius suggests a similar black hole mass range. Black holes of such a high mass are able to produce an energy output in a manner similar to X42.3+59 by accreting from the interstellar medium directly. © 2010. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- DISCOVERY OF MILLIHERTZ X-RAY OSCILLATIONS IN A TRANSIENT ULTRALUMINOUS X-RAY SOURCE IN M82
- Creators
- Hua Feng - Tsinghua UniversityFengyun Rao - Tsinghua UniversityPhilip Kaaret - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Astrophysical journal. Letters, Vol.710(2), pp.L137-L141
- DOI
- 10.1088/2041-8205/710/2/L137
- ISSN
- 2041-8205
- eISSN
- 2041-8213
- Publisher
- The American Astronomical Society
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/20/2010
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9984200054902771
Metrics
13 Record Views