Detection of x-ray elongated emission from an ultraluminous x-ray source in the interacting pair of galaxies NGC 5953/5954

Margarita Rosado, Kajal K. Ghosh, Isaura Fuentes-Carrera

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present radio through X-ray observations of a bright (>10 40 erg s-1 in the 0.5-8.0 keV band) ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX), CXOU J153434.9+151149, in the starburst, interacting pair of galaxies NGC 5953/5954. A Chandra image of this ULX shows that it is elongated. From HST/WFPC2/F606W data we have detected a counterpart of the ULX system with M F606W -7.1 0.7 mag. This optical counterpart may be either an O-type supergiant star or a young star cluster. From our Fabry-Perot interferometric observations, we have detected Hα and [N II] (6584 ) diffuse emission, with velocity gradients up to 60 km s-1 at the astrometric corrected Chandra position of the ULX. Different scenarios have been invoked as to explain the possible nature of CXOU J153434.9+151149. Based on the observed X-ray morphology of the ULX, we estimate that the inclination between the line of sight to the observer and the direction of a possibly beamed outflow is 53°. Beaming with this geometry from a stellar-mass black hole system will be inadequate to explain the observed X-ray luminosity of this ULX. Finally, we suggest that mild-beaming from a binary black hole with mass more than 50 M associated with a young star cluster, is the most favorable scenario that describes the multiwavelength properties of this ULX. Future observations are definitely needed to determine the nature of this rare object.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)212-220
Number of pages9
JournalAstronomical Journal
Volume136
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jul 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Galaxies: individual (NGC 5953, NGC 5954)
  • Galaxies: interactions
  • X-rays: galaxies
  • X-rays: individual (CXOU J153434.9+151149)

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