Observational Evidence for Intermediate Mass Black Holes: The State Transitions of ESO 243-41 HLX-1
Abstract
Ultra-luminous X-ray source are off-nuclear extragalactic X-ray sources that exceed the Eddington luminosity for a stellar-mass black hole. I will focus on the study of the ultra-luminous X-ray source ESO 243-49 HLX-1 with >10^42 erg/s, which is the best intermediate mass black hole candidate currently known. Those black holes could play a key role in the formation of supermassive black holes. The source HLX-1 was observed in two main, well defined X-ray spectral states that are consistent with the thermal and the hard states, reminiscent of Galactic stellar-mass black hole binaries. Both beamed emission and super-accretion are thus unlikely, leading to a constraint of the mass of >9000 Msun. This is the strongest argument to claim the existence of a bona fide intermediate mass black hole.
- Publication:
-
AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division #13
- Pub Date:
- April 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013HEAD...1312903S