The Unusual Spectrum of the Ultra Luminous X-ray Source, M82 X-1

Abstract

The results of a spectral analysis, using {\it XMM-Newton} and {\it Chandra} data of the brightest ultra luminous X-ray source in the nearby galaxy M82, are presented. The spectrum of M82 X-1, was found to be unusually hard (photon spectral index $\Gamma \approx 1$) with a sharp cutoff at $\approx 6$ keV. Disk black body emission model requires a nonphysically high temperature. Instead, the spectrum is better described, with a lower reduced ${\chi }^2$, as emission due to nearly saturated Comptonization of photons in an optically thick ($\tau \approx 10-30$, depending on the geometry) plasma having a temperature $kT\approx 2$ keV. This is in contrast to the high energy spectra of other black hole systems, which are relatively steeper ($\Gamma >1.5$) and hence are modeled as un-saturated thermal and/or non-thermal Comptonization of soft photons, in an optically thin ($\tau \approx 1$) high temperature plasma. An Iron line emission which is marginally resolved ($\sigma \sim 0.2$ keV) is required to fit the data. We argue that the standard geometries for the X-ray producing region, which are an optically thin inner disk or an uniform/patchy corona on top of a cold disk, are not applicable to this source. Alternatively, the geometry of the X-ray producing region could be a large sphere surrounding a cold accretion disk or an optically thick inner disk region which cools by bremsstrahlung self-Comptonization. For the latter scenario, such an inner disk region, whose effective optical depth to absorption is less than unity, is expected in the standard accretion disk theory for near Eddington accretion rates.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters

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