| Proposal ID | 040569 |
| Title | Testing the accreting intermediate-mass black hole hypothesis in two ULXs |
| Download Data Associated to the proposal | https://nxsa.esac.esa.int/nxsa-sl/servlet/data-action-aio?obsno=0405690101 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-9mhrney |
| Principal Investigator, PI | Dr Timothy Roberts |
| Abstract | We propose deep XMM-Newton observations of two bright ultraluminous X-raysources, NGC 4559 X7 and NGC 5204 X-1. Short observations of these ULXs haverevealed spectral soft excesses, consistent with an accretion disc around anintermediate-mass black hole. We will use two diagnostic tests, only accessiblethrough high signal-to-noise data, to test whether the accreting IMBH hypothesisremains viable after rigorous examination. Specifically, we will look forcurvature in the 2 - 10 keV X-ray spectrum, which is not expected if IMBHsoperate in accretion states similar to Galactic black hole binaries, and we willplace limits on the underlying black hole masses by deriving the form of thepower spectral density for each source. |
| Publications |
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| Instrument | EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2 |
| Temporal Coverage | 2006-11-15T20:21:34Z/2006-11-26T07:44:53Z |
| Version | 21.51_20241115_1113 |
| Mission Description | The European Space Agencys (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) was launched by an Ariane 504 on December 10th 1999. XMM-Newton is ESAs second cornerstone of the Horizon 2000 Science Programme. It carries 3 high throughput X-ray telescopes with an unprecedented effective area, and an optical monitor, the first flown on a X-ray observatory. The large collecting area and ability to make long uninterrupted exposures provide highly sensitive observations. Since Earths atmosphere blocks out all X-rays, only a telescope in space can detect and study celestial X-ray sources. The XMM-Newton mission is helping scientists to solve a number of cosmic mysteries, ranging from the enigmatic black holes to the origins of the Universe itself. Observing time on XMM-Newton is being made available to the scientific community, applying for observational periods on a competitive basis. |
| Creator Contact | https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/xmm-newton-helpdesk |
| Date Published | 2007-12-21T00:00:00Z |
| Last Update | 2026-07-09 |
| Keywords | "XMM-Newton", "spectral soft excesses", "power spectral density", "imbhs operate", "NGC 4559", "blackhole masses", "XMM", "kev xray spectrum", "galactic blackhole binary", "ngc 4559 x7", "accreting imbh hypothesis", "noise data", "ngc 5204 x", "accretion disc", "deep xmm newton", "diagnostic tests" |
| Publisher And Registrant | European Space Agency |
| Credit Guidelines | European Space Agency, Dr Timothy Roberts, 2007, 'Testing the accreting intermediate-mass black hole hypothesis in two ULXs', 21.51_20241115_1113, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-9mhrney |
| Rights | Data hosted in the ESA Space Science Archives are distributed under the CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO license. |