Stellar Properties of the Host Galaxy of an Ultraluminous X-ray Source in NGC 5252

Abstract

An ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in NGC 5252 has been known as a strong candidate for an off-nuclear intermediate-mass black hole. We present near-infrared imaging data of the ULX obtained with the William Herschel Telescope. Using this data we estimate a stellar mass associated with the ULX of $\approx 10^{7.9\pm 0.1}{M}_{\odot }$ , suggesting that it could be (the remnant of) a dwarf galaxy that is in the process of merging with NGC 5252. Based on a correlation between the mass of the central black hole (BH) and host galaxy, the ULX is powered by a $10^5{M}_{\odot }$ black hole. Alternatively, if the BH mass is $\approx 10^6{M}_{\odot }$ or larger, the host galaxy of the ULX must have been heavily stripped during the merger. The ULX $K_s$-band luminosity is two orders of magnitude smaller than that expected from an ordinary active galactic nucleus with the observed [O III] luminosity, which also suggests the ULX lacks a dusty torus. We discuss how these findings provide suggestive evidence that the ULX is hosting an intermediate-mass black hole.

arXiv commentTo appear in MNRAS

References in corpus (47)

• Stellar population synthesis at the resolution of 2003
• Coevolution (Or Not) of Supermassive Black Holes and Host Galaxies
• The Origin of the Mass--Metallicity Relation: Insights from 53,000 Star-Forming Galaxies in the SDSS
• Detailed Structural Decomposition of Galaxy Images
• Stellar mass-to-light ratios and the Tully-Fisher relation
• A luminous quasar at a redshift of z = 7.085
• A fundamental plane of black hole activity
• An 800-million-solar-mass black hole in a significantly neutral Universe at redshift 7.5
• Formation of Supermassive Black Holes
• An Ultraluminous X-ray Source Powered by An Accreting Neutron Star
• Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in External Galaxies
• An Intermediate-mass Black Hole of Over 500 Solar Masses in the Galaxy ESO 243-49
• An accreting pulsar with extreme properties drives an ultraluminous x-ray source in NGC 5907
• The Ultra-Luminous X-ray Source Population from the Chandra Archive of Galaxies
• Discovery of coherent pulsations from the Ultraluminous X-ray Source NGC 7793 P13
• Active Galactic Nuclei with Candidate Intermediate-Mass Black Holes
• Observational evidence for intermediate-mass black holes
• Chandra High-Resolution Camera Observations of the Luminous X-Ray Source in the Starburst Galaxy M82
• A Supermassive Black Hole in an Ultracompact Dwarf Galaxy
• Reverberation Measurements of the Inner Radius of the Dust Torus in 17 Seyfert Galaxies
• On the Disappearance of the Broad-Line Region in Low-Luminosity Agns
• Evolution of Broad-line Emission from Active Galactic Nuclei
• The Black Hole Mass Scale of Classical and Pseudo Bulges in Active Galaxies
• 2XMM Ultraluminous X-Ray Source Candidates in Nearby Galaxies
• THELI -- Convenient reduction of any optical, near- and mid-infrared imaging data
• X-ray constraints on the local supermassive black hole occupation fraction
• The most extreme ultraluminous X-ray sources: evidence for intermediate-mass black holes?
• Magnetic field strength of a neutron-star-powered ultraluminous X-ray source
• Black Hole Mass Scaling Relations for Spiral Galaxies. I. $M_{\mathrm{BH}}$-$M_{\ast ,\mathrm{sph}}$
• Detection of Supermassive Black Holes in Two Virgo Ultracompact Dwarf Galaxies
• Black Hole Mass Scaling Relations for Spiral Galaxies. II. $M_{\mathrm{BH}}$-$M_{\ast ,\mathrm{tot}}$ and $M_{\mathrm{BH}}$-$M_{\ast ,\mathrm{disk}}$
• A 10,000-solar-mass black hole in the nucleus of a bulgeless dwarf galaxy
• A 3.5-million Solar Masses Black Hole in the Centre of the Ultracompact Dwarf Galaxy Fornax UCD3
• A high Eddington-ratio, true Seyfert 2 galaxy candidate: implications for broad-line-region models
• Indecent Exposure in Seyfert 2 Galaxies: A Close Look
• The near-to-mid infrared spectrum of quasars
• A bright off-nuclear X-ray source: A bright off-nuclear X-ray source: a type IIn supernova, a bright ULX or a recoiling super-massive black hole in CXO J122518.6+144545
• Radio observations of extreme ULXs: revealing the most powerful ULX radio nebula ever or the jet of an intermediate-mass black hole?
• Chandra Survey of Nearby Galaxies: A Significant Population of Candidate Central Black Holes in Late-type Galaxies
• Discovery of a red supergiant counterpart to RX~J004722.4-252051, a ULX in NGC 253
• The Low-mass, Highly Accreting Black Hole Associated with the Active Galactic Nucleus 2XMM J123103.2+110648
• The extended radio jet of an off-nuclear low-mass AGN in NGC 5252
• Stellar Population Properties of Ultracompact Dwarfs in M87: a Mass-metallicity Correlation Connecting Low-metallicity Globular Clusters and Compact Ellipticals
• A metal-poor ultra compact dwarf galaxy at a kiloparsec distance from the low-mass elliptical galaxy FCC47
• An Off-Nucleus Nonstellar Black Hole in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 5252
• NGC5252: a pair of radio-emitting active galactic nuclei?
• Ionized Gas Kinematics around an Ultra-luminous X-ray Source in NGC 5252 : Additional Evidence for an Off-nuclear AGN

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Intermediate Mass Black Hole Formation in compact Young Massive Star Clusters
• The environment of AGN dwarf galaxies at z$\sim$0.7 from the VIPERS survey
• Potential Black Hole Seeding of the Spiral Galaxy NGC 4424 via an Infalling Star Cluster
• Is there a sub-parsec-scale jet base in the nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 4395?
• Identification of Intermediate-mass Black Hole Candidates Among a Sample of Sd Galaxies
• Feedback from intermediate mass black holes on dwarf galaxy morphology at z=2
• FROST-CLUSTERS -- III. Metallicity-dependent intermediate mass black hole formation by runaway collisions in dense star clusters