Multiwavelength analysis of nearby ultraluminous x-ray sources (ULXs) and their environment

Abstract

Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are known as extragalactic point-like X-ray sources with luminosities considerably in excess of the maximum luminosity of a 10 solar mass accreting black hole. X-ray spectra of ULXs have been investigated in many previous studies. However, sparse observations render it more difficult to convincingly distinguish between two competing scenarios, i.e. sub-critical accreting intermediate-mass black hole and super-critical accreting stellar remnant black hole. Here, we report our investigation of a sample of nearby ULXs, as well as their host galaxies, in order to get a more complete understanding of their nature. Multiwavelength analysis was applied to study these ULXs. From X-ray study, we found that most ULXs in our sample do exhibit spectral variability in which higher energy X-ray predominates the spectra as the source becomes brighter. We also compiled some properties of the host galaxies, as a proxy of ULX environment. We found that ULXs in our sample can neither be exclusively associated with a certain type of morphology, nor with high nuclear activity. We also found that 12 out of 19 ULXs reside in host galaxies with star formation rate of less than 1 solar mass per year.