The slim-disk state of the ultraluminous X-ray source in M83

Abstract

The transient ULX in M83 that went into outburst in or shortly before 2010 is still active. Our new XMM-Newton spectra show that it has a curved spectrum typical of the upper end of the high/soft state or slim-disk state. It appears to be spanning the gap between Galactic stellar-mass black holes and the ultraluminous state, at X-ray luminosities $\approx (1$-$3)\times 10^{39}$ erg s${}^{-1}$ (a factor of two lower than in the 2010-2011 Chandra observations). From its broadened disk-like spectral shape at that luminosity, and from the fitted inner-disk radius and temperature, we argue that the accreting object is an ordinary stellar-mass black hole with $M\sim$$10$-$20M_{\odot }$. We suggest that in the 2010-2011 Chandra observations, the source was seen at a higher accretion rate, resulting in a power-law-dominated spectrum with a soft excess at large radii.

11 pages, accepted by the Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (9)

• Super-critically accreting stellar-mass black holes as ultraluminous X-ray sources
• XMM-Newton observations of the brightest Ultraluminous X-ray sources
• A mass of less than 15 solar masses for the black hole in an ultraluminous X-ray source
• Cepheid Distances to SNe Ia Host Galaxies based on a Revised Photometric Zero-Point of the HST-WFPC2 and New P-L Relations and Metallicity Corrections
• X-ray observations of ultraluminous X-ray sources
• Reprocessing of X-rays in the outer accretion disc of the black hole binary XTE J1817--330
• A Deep Chandra ACIS Survey of M83
• Bridging the gap between stellar-mass black holes and ultraluminous X-ray sources
• Irradiated, colour-temperature-corrected accretion discs in ultraluminous X-ray sources

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• Super-Eddington accretion onto a stellar mass ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 4190 ULX1
• Global Transonic Solution of Hot Accretion Flow with Thermal Conduction
• A multi-wavelength view of distinct accretion regimes in the pulsating ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 1313 X-2
• X-ray spectral and optical properties of a ULX in NGC 4258 (M106)
• Constraint on the accretion of NGC 6946 X-1 using broadband X-ray data
• Hard X-ray flares and spectral variability in NGC 4395 ULX1
• Optical Counterparts of ULXs in Two Dwarf Galaxies: NGC 4861 and NGC 4449
• Phase-Dependent Spectral Shape Changes in the Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsar NGC 5907 ULX1