Observations of Black Holes in Extragalactic Globular Clusters
Abstract
The search for black holes (BHs) in globular clusters (GCs) has a long and checkered history. High resolution X-ray observations provide a direct method to detect accreting black holes in GCs. The highly luminous and rapidly variable X-ray source associated with the globular cluster RZ2109 in NGC 4472 was the first such confirmed source. Several other BHs have been detected in GCs in nearby galaxies since then. Follow up optical spectroscopy reveals optical emission lines in some of the sources. These provide interesting insights into the donors, the geometry of the systems, and the masses of the accretors. I will discuss some of the individual BH systems and the picture emerging from the study of the growing population of BHs in GCs.
- Publication:
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AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division #13
- Pub Date:
- April 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013HEAD...1320605K