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Observational evidence for intermediate-mass black holes: ultra-luminous X-ray sources
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 August 2006
Abstract
Incorporating early data from the Suzaku satellite launched in July 2005, properties of Ultra-Luminous compact X-ray sources (ULXs) were studied in close comparison with those of Galactic and Magellanic black-hole binaries. Based on an analogy between these two types of X-ray sources, ULXs showing power-law type spectra are considered to host Comptonized accretion disks, while those with multicolor-disk type spectra are interpreted to harbor “slim” disks. The analogy also suggests that ULXs are radiating near their Eddington limits, and hence their central black holes are significantly more massive than the ordinary stellar-mass black holes contained in Galactic and Magellanic black-hole binaries. In this sense, ULXs can be regarded as intermediate-mass black holes.
- Type
- Contributed Papers
- Information
- Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 2 , Symposium S238: Black Holes from Stars to Galaxies – Across the Range of Masses , August 2006 , pp. 209 - 218
- Copyright
- Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2007
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