Investigating the Wolf-Rayet + Black Hole Binary NGC 300 X-1 With Chandra and Hubble

We observed the Wolf-Rayet + black hole binary NGC 300 X-1 twice with the Chandra X-ray Observatory (~65 ksec each). In the first observation, we observed a secular increase in brightness of the X-ray source, consistent with an eclipse egress. The Chandra data were also used to construct a spectral model of the black hole that could help us better understand how X-rays are being produced in the binary. We observe an X-ray energy dependence on the orbital phase, consistent with the black hole moving through the dense stellar wind of the donor star. Prior to our study, NGC 300 X-1 had only been observed by ground-based telescopes and these images of the system made it difficult to separate the optical source from other nearby stars. We obtained Hubble imaging of NGC 300 X-1 for the first time, and found a bright AGB star withing the X-ray error circle, in addition to the Wolf-Rayet star. We cannot rule out the possibility that the AGB star is the companion. We have compared the X-ray light curve with the He II λ 4648 emission line radial velocity from the literature to the X-ray light curve, and found that the He II emission line likely originates from the black hole accretion disk or from a focused wind from the donor, and not the donor star itself. These observations demonstrates that the mass of the black hole -- previously estimated at ~15 M_⊙ -- may not be accurate.