The brightest ULXs, the hyper luminous X-ray sources
Abstract
Intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) are thought to be the building blocks of supermassive black holes that are found in the centres of the more massive galaxies. However, until recently, the observational evidence for IMBHs has been weak, which poses problems for understanding the origin of supermassive black holes. Two promising environments to search for IMBHs include the centres of low mass galaxies and in the most luminous of the ultra lumimnous X-ray sources, the hyper-luminous X-ray sources (HLXs). In this talk I will present recent results on the temporal evolution of the best studied intermediate mass black hole candidate, HLX-1, which has a mass of 1e4 solar masses, as well as discussing a recent study of the environment around this extreme ULX. I will also present preliminary studies of other newly discovered HLXs and discuss the population of IMBH as a whole.
- Publication:
-
The X-ray Universe 2017
- Pub Date:
- October 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017xru..conf..339W