Optical Counterpart of the Ultraluminous X-ray Source IC 342 X-1

Hua Feng; Philip Kaaret

doi:10.1086/527353

Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 0711.4131

Optical Counterpart of the Ultraluminous X-ray Source IC 342 X-1

Hua Feng·Philip Kaaret

View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

We present Chandra and HST observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) IC 342 X-1. The Chandra and HST images are aligned using two X-ray emitting foreground stars. The astrometry corrected position for X-1 is R.A. = 03h45m55.61s, Decl. = +68d04m55.3s (J2000) with an error circle of 0.2". One extended optical source is found in the error circle, which could be the optical counterpart of X-1. The source shows an extended feature in HST images at long wavelengths, which is likely to be a superposition of two point sources, although it is possible that the dimmer one could be a jet. Both sources are much redder than typical for ULX optical counterparts. The brighter one has an absolute magnitude M_V = -5.2 +/- 0.2 and (B-V)_0 = 0.66 +/- 0.13 and the dimmer star is not detected in B and has (B-V)_0 > 2.1. Their colors are consistent with an F8 to G0 Ib supergiant or a carbon star, respectively. However, it is likely that part or most of the optical emission may be due to X-rays reprocessed by the companion star or the accretion disk. The stellar neighborhood of IC 342 X-1 lacks O stars and has a minimum age of ~10 Myr. This excludes the possibility that the surrounding nebula is powered by an energetic explosion of a single massive star that formed a black hole. We suggest that the nebula is most likely powered by an outflow from the X-ray source.

Explore related subjects

astro-ph

Keep this discovery

BibTeX RIS

Hua Feng, Philip Kaaret. 2007-11-26. Optical Counterpart of the Ultraluminous X-ray Source IC 342 X-1. https://doi.org/10.1086/527353

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2019

A new paradigm for the universe

This book provides a completely new approach to understanding the universe. The main idea is that the principal objects in the universe form a spectrum unified by the presence of a massive or hypermassive black hole. These objects are variously called quasars, active galaxies and spiral galaxies. The key to understanding their dynamics is angular momentum and the key tool, and main innovative idea of this work, is a proper formulation of "Mach's principle" using Sciama's ideas. In essence, what is provided here is a totally new paradigm for the universe. In this paradigm, there is no big bang, and the universe is many orders of magnitude older than current estimates for its age. Indeed there is no natural limit for its age.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2019

Rotation Curves of Spiral Galaxies

Rotation curves of spiral galaxies are the major tool for determining the distribution of mass in spiral galaxies. They provide fundamental information for understanding the dynamics, evolution and formation of spiral galaxies. We describe various methods to derive rotation curves, and review the results obtained. We discuss the basic characteristics of observed rotation curves in relation to various galaxy properties, such as Hubble type, structure, activity, and environment.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2018

Abrupt global events in the Earth's history: a physics perspective

The timeline of the Earth's history reveals quasi-periodicity of the geological record over the last 542 Myr, on timescales close, in the order of magnitude, to 1 Myr. What is the origin of this quasi-periodicity? What is the nature of the global events that define the boundaries of the geological time scale? I propose that a single mechanism is responsible for all three types of such events: mass extinctions, geomagnetic polarity reversals, and sea-level fluctuations. The mechanism is fast, and involves a significant energy release. The mechanism is unlikely to have astronomical causes, both because of the energies involved, and because it acts quasi-periodically. It must then be sought within the Earth itself. And it must be capable of reversing the Earth's magnetic field. The last requirement makes it incompatible with the consensus model of the origin of the geomagnetic field - the hydromagnetic dynamo operating in the Earth's fluid core. In the second part of the paper, I show that a vast amount of seemingly unconnected geophysical and geological data can be understood in a unified way if the source of the Earth's main magnetic field is a ~200-km-thick lithosphere, repeatedly magnetized as a result of methane-driven oceanic eruptions, which produce ocean flow capable of dynamo action. The eruptions are driven by the interplay of buoyancy forces and exsolution of dissolved gas, which accumulates in the oceanic water masses prone to stagnation and anoxia. Polarity reversals, mass extinctions, and sequence boundaries are consequences of these eruptions. Unlike the consensus model of geomagnetism, this scenario is consistent with the paleomagnetic data showing that "directional changes during a [geomagnetic polarity] reversal can be astonishingly fast, possibly occurring as a nearly instantaneous jump from one inclined dipolar state to another in the opposite hemisphere".

astro-ph↗