What dominates the X-ray emission of Andromeda at E>20 keV? New constraints from NuSTAR and Swift on a very bright, hard X-ray source

Thanks to its better sensitivity and spatial resolution, NuSTAR allows us to investigate the E>10 keV properties of nearby galaxies. We now know that starburst galaxies, containing very young stellar populations, have X-ray spectra which drop quickly above 10 keV. We extend our investigation of hard X-ray properties to an older stellar population system, the bulge of M31. The NuSTAR and Swift simultaneous observations reveal a bright hard source dominating the M31 bulge above 20 keV, which is likely to be a counterpart of Swift J0042.6+4112 previously detected (but not classified) in the Swift BAT All-sky Hard X-ray Survey. This source had been classified as an XRB candidate in various Chandra and XMM-Newton studies; however, since it was not clear that it is the counterpart to the strong Swift J0042.6+4112 source at higher energies, the previous E < 10 keV observations did not generate much attention. The NuSTAR and Swift spectra of this source drop quickly at harder energies as observed in sources in starburst galaxies. The X-ray spectral properties of this source are very similar to those of an accreting pulsar; yet, we do not find a pulsation in the NuSTAR data. The existing deep HST images indicate no high mass donors at the location of this source, further suggesting that this source has an intermediate or low mass companion. The most likely scenario for the nature of this source is an X-ray pulsar with an intermediate/low mass companion similar to the Galactic Her X-1 system. We will also discuss other possibilities in more detail.