Discovery of a Nuclear X-Ray Source in NGC 7331: Evidence for a Massive Black Hole

Abstract

Using ROSAT, we have made the first deep X-ray observations of NGC 7331, discovering a nuclear X-ray source coincident with the previously determined radio and optical nuclear centers. Positions, luminosities, and fluxes of X-ray sources in the field are compared to previously identified radio and optical sources. The nucleus of NGC 7331 has been analyzed to discern any new evidence supporting the presence of a massive black hole (MBH), and comparisons are made with other Low-Ionization Nuclear Emission-line Region (LINER) galaxies. The flux ratio of core radio to soft X-ray emission in NGC 7331 is lower than in other LINERs included in our sample.

ApJ Letters in press

References in corpus (3)

• Water maser emission and the parsec-scale jet in NGC 3079
• The Hubble Space Telescope Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project. X. The Cepheid Distance to NGC 7331
• ISOCAM Mid-Infrared Imaging of the Quiescent Spiral Galaxy NGC 7331

Cited by in corpus (7)

• X-ray nature of the LINER nuclear sources
• Further Clues to the Nature of Composite LINER/HII Galaxies
• A Radio and X-Ray Study of Historical Supernovae in M83
• NGC 7331: the Galaxy with the Multicomponent Central Region
• From Supernova to Remnant: Tracking the Evolution of the Oldest Known X-ray Supernovae
• BeppoSAX/PDS serendipitous detections at high galactic latitudes
• Axisymmetrical Gas Inflow in the Central Region of NGC 7331