Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
An intermediate-mass black hole of over 500 solar masses in the galaxy ESO 243-49. |
| Authors: |
Farrell, Sean A., Webb, Natalie A., Barret, Didier, Godet, Olivier, Rodrigues, Joana M. |
| Source: |
Nature. 7/2/2009, Vol. 460 Issue 7251, p73-75. 3p. 1 Black and White Photograph, 2 Charts. |
| Subjects: |
X-rays, Galaxies, Luminescence, Afterglow (Physics), Supermassive black holes, Gravitational collapse, Compact objects (Astronomy) |
| Abstract: |
Ultraluminous X-ray sources are extragalactic objects located outside the nucleus of the host galaxy with bolometric luminosities exceeding 1039 erg s-1. These extreme luminosities—if the emission is isotropic and below the theoretical (Eddington) limit, where the radiation pressure is balanced by the gravitational pressure—imply the presence of an accreting black hole with a mass of ∼102–105 solar masses (). The existence of such intermediate-mass black holes is in dispute, and though many candidates have been proposed, none are widely accepted as definitive. Here we report the detection of a variable X-ray source with a maximum 0.2–10 keV luminosity of up to 1.1 × 1042 erg s-1 in the edge-on spiral galaxy ESO 243-49, with an implied conservative lower limit for the mass of the black hole of ∼500. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: |
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
