Ultraluminous X-ray sources with luminosities up to 2e40 erg/s are now regardedas likely super-Eddington accretors powered by stellar mass black holes, andthose above 1e41 erg/s may be good intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH)candidates. However, the few objects lying between these ranges have anuncertain nature, and remain poorly studied. Here, we propose a new deepobservation of one such object located within 20 Mpc. We will use the highquality EPIC data to determine whether its spectrum shows the characteristicsignatures of the ultraluminous state, indicative of super-Eddington accretiononto large stellar black holes, or whether it appears consistent with the hardpower-law spectra and >10% fractional variability of an IMBH in the hard state.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2014-08-27T01:48:16Z/2014-08-28T10:16:36Z
Version
17.56_20190403_1200
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.
European Space Agency, Dr Fabio Pintore, 2015, 'Extreme ULXs: super-Eddington accretors comma or intermediate-mass black holes', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-9no2cm6
