2010/05/04 by Jing Jin, Hua Feng, Philip Kaaret
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/716/1/181
published as Astrophysical Journal 716 (2010) 181-186
arxiv created 2010/05/04 · openalex publication_date 2010/05/17 · arxiv updated 2010/05/20 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
We report on the identification of a third, new ultraluminous X-ray source in the starburst galaxy M82. Previously, the source was observed at fluxes consistent with the high state of Galactic black hole binaries (BHBs). We observe fluxes up to (6.5 ± 0.3) × 10 39 erg s −1 in the ultraluminous regime. When the source is not in the low/hard state, spectral fitting using a multicolor disk model shows that the disk luminosity varies as the disk inner temperature raised to the power 4.8 ± 0.9, consistent with the behavior of Galactic BHBs in the thermal dominant state. Fitting the spectrum with a multicolor disk model with general relativistic corrections suggests that the source harbors a rapidly spinning black hole with a mass less than 100 solar masses. A soft excess was found in the source spectrum that could be blackbody emission from a photosphere created by a massive outflow. The source also showed soft dips during a flare.