The ultra-luminous X-ray source in M82: an intermediate mass black hole with a giant companion

A. Patruno, S. F. Portegies Zwart, J. Dewi +1

The starburst galaxy M82 at a distance of 12 million light years, is the host of an unusually bright $2.4-16\times 10^{40}$ erg/s X-ray point source, which is best explained by an…