A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

NuSTAR observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source M33 X-8: A black hole in a very high state?




AuthorsKrivonos R., Sazonov S., Tsygankov S., Poutanen J.

PublisherOxford University Press

Publication year2018

JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Journal name in sourceMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Volume480

Issue2

First page 2357

Last page2364

eISSN1365-2966

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1093/MNRAS/STY1995

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://arxiv.org/abs/1807.10427


Abstract

The closest known ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX), M33 X-8, has been recently observed with NuSTAR during its Extragalactic Legacy program, which includes a hard X-ray survey of the M33 galaxy. We present results of two long observations of M33 taken in 2017 March and July, with M33 X-8 in the field of view. The source demonstrates a nearly constant flux during the observations, and its 3–20 keV spectrum can be well described by two distinct components: a standard accretion disc with a temperature of ∼1 keV at the inner radius and a power law with a photon index Γ ≈ 3, which is significantly detected up to 20 keV. There is also an indication of a high-energy cut-off in the spectrum, corresponding to a temperature of the Comptonizing medium of ≳ 10 keV. The broad-band spectral properties of M33 X-8 resemble black hole X-ray binaries in their very high states, suggesting that M33 X-8 is a black hole accreting at a nearly Eddington rate, in contrast to super-Eddington accretion believed to take place in more luminous ULXs.



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 18:25