Open AccessX‐Ray and Optical Variability of the Ultraluminous X‐Ray Source NGC 1313 X‐2
Author(s) -
P. Mucciarelli,
L. Zampieri,
A. Treves,
R. Turolla,
R. Falomo
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the astrophysical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.376
H-Index - 489
eISSN - 1538-4357
pISSN - 0004-637X
DOI - 10.1086/512152
Subject(s) - physics , astrophysics , luminosity , flux (metallurgy) , flare , light curve , black hole (networking) , x ray , roche lobe , astronomy , stars , galaxy , white dwarf , nuclear physics , computer network , routing protocol , materials science , routing (electronic design automation) , computer science , metallurgy , link state routing protocol
We present an analysis of recent XMM-Newton and HST archive data of theultraluminous X-ray source NGC 1313 X-2. Quasi-simultaneous observations takenwith XMM-Newton, HST and VLT allow us to study both the X-ray light curve andits correlation with the optical emission of the two proposed ULX counterparts.At the end of December 2003 the source experienced a short, but intense flare,reaching a maximum luminosity of ~10^40 erg/s. At the same time, the opticalflux of both the suggested counterparts did not show pronounced variations(<30%). Assuming that the ULX emission is isotropic and taking X-rayreprocessing into account, the optical data for one of the proposedcounterparts are consistent with it being an early type, main sequence star ofabout 10-18 Msun losing matter through Roche-lobe overflow onto a ~120 Msunblack hole at an orbital separation corresponding to a period of about 2 days.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, accepted for pubblication on Ap
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