Understanding the radio jets of the intermediate mass black hole ESO 243-49 HLX-1

We request ten deep scheduled ATCA observations of the ultra luminous X-ray source HLX-1, to confirm possible spectral variability revealed in our latest ATCA observations of HLX-1, by observing the earliest (and strongest) flares during the rise from the low/hard to the high/soft state. This will be possible thanks to the improved estimate of the outburst recurrence time of this source. Such observations will allow us to confirm (or rule out) if the radio spectrum is consistent with optically thin synchrotron emission (as expected from a flare). Detecting the first radio flare will also give us an estimate of the mass accretion rate (Koerding, Fender & Migliari, 2006), complimentary to that estimated from optical data, which allows us to constrain the mass accumulated in the disc and therefore give a handle on the nature of the proposed donor star thought to be providing mass to the intermediate mass black hole.