A Hubble Space Telescope optical image of our nearest neighbour galaxy, Andromeda (M31), with the inset an X-ray image of the active centre made with the XMM-Newton observatory. The newly discovered ULX is highlighted. Credit: MPE
An animated gif based on X-ray images from XMM-Newton, showing the ULX from the time it was first seen to enter outburst at the end of 2009 and its decay until it 'switched off' sometime in 2010. Credit: MPEA spectacularly bright object recently spotted in one of the Milky Way's neighbouring galaxies is the result of a "normal" stellar black hole, astronomers have found.
An international team of scientists, led by Dr Matt Middleton, of Durham University, analysed the Ultraluminous X-ray Source (ULX), which was originally discovered in the Andromeda galaxy by NASA's Chandra x-ray observatory. They publish their results in the journals Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Many ULXs are too far away for astronomers to study, but the relatively close proximity of Andromeda to the Milky Way – around 2.5 million light years – gave the team opportunity to study the phenomenon.
The researchers say their study could begin to answer the question about what causes ULXs. Some scientists believe they are caused by relatively small black holes, a few times the mass of our Sun. These black holes rapidly pull in gas and dust which forms an "accretion disc" and heats up causing the material to emit X-rays.
Other scientists say ULXs are caused by material being dragged in by an intermediate-sized black hole formed from the merger of many stellar black holes with a mass perhaps 1,000 times bigger than the Sun.
The Durham-led findings link the ULX spotted in Andromeda to a normal stellar black hole formed after a massive star exploded as a supernova.
Dr Middleton, of Durham University's Department of Physics, said: "ULX sources are still pretty exotic.
"But our work shows that at least some are linked to the normal black holes left behind after the death of massive stars, objects that are found throughout the Universe, and the way that they drag in surrounding material.
"The ULX in Andromeda flared up because of the black hole's voracious appetite for new material."
Using data from Chandra, the XMM-Newton X-ray observatory, the Swift gamma ray observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope the research team were able to watch a sharp decline in the outburst from the ULX that took place over the next few months.
This decline had not been seen in any ULX before, but is common in stellar-mass X-ray binaries in the Milky Way where a normal star is in close orbit around a black hole. Measurement of energy emissions from the ULX also allowed the team to rule out low rates of accretion that would be expected from an intermediate-mass black hole.
They concluded that the Andromeda ULX had the mass of a large star, in this case about 13 times the mass of the Sun.
Dr Middleton said: "We would like to follow up this work by watching another outburst from the Andromeda ULX. The problem is that these are likely to happen only every few decades so we could be in for a long wait before this source erupts again."
The team hope that the ongoing monitoring of Andromeda by orbiting X-ray observatories may find other ULXs in the same galaxy, giving them another chance to test their theory.
Dr Middleton said: "If we do manage to spot another ULX outburst in Andromeda it will be a big help in understanding the extreme behaviour of black holes and the way they pull in matter – something of great importance in shaping the wider universe."
The research work in the UK was funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
An international team of scientists, led by Dr Matt Middleton, of Durham University, analysed the Ultraluminous X-ray Source (ULX), which was originally discovered in the Andromeda galaxy by NASA's Chandra x-ray observatory. They publish their results in the journals Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Many ULXs are too far away for astronomers to study, but the relatively close proximity of Andromeda to the Milky Way – around 2.5 million light years – gave the team opportunity to study the phenomenon.
The researchers say their study could begin to answer the question about what causes ULXs. Some scientists believe they are caused by relatively small black holes, a few times the mass of our Sun. These black holes rapidly pull in gas and dust which forms an "accretion disc" and heats up causing the material to emit X-rays.
Other scientists say ULXs are caused by material being dragged in by an intermediate-sized black hole formed from the merger of many stellar black holes with a mass perhaps 1,000 times bigger than the Sun.
The Durham-led findings link the ULX spotted in Andromeda to a normal stellar black hole formed after a massive star exploded as a supernova.
Dr Middleton, of Durham University's Department of Physics, said: "ULX sources are still pretty exotic.
"But our work shows that at least some are linked to the normal black holes left behind after the death of massive stars, objects that are found throughout the Universe, and the way that they drag in surrounding material.
"The ULX in Andromeda flared up because of the black hole's voracious appetite for new material."
Using data from Chandra, the XMM-Newton X-ray observatory, the Swift gamma ray observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope the research team were able to watch a sharp decline in the outburst from the ULX that took place over the next few months.
This decline had not been seen in any ULX before, but is common in stellar-mass X-ray binaries in the Milky Way where a normal star is in close orbit around a black hole. Measurement of energy emissions from the ULX also allowed the team to rule out low rates of accretion that would be expected from an intermediate-mass black hole.
They concluded that the Andromeda ULX had the mass of a large star, in this case about 13 times the mass of the Sun.
Dr Middleton said: "We would like to follow up this work by watching another outburst from the Andromeda ULX. The problem is that these are likely to happen only every few decades so we could be in for a long wait before this source erupts again."
The team hope that the ongoing monitoring of Andromeda by orbiting X-ray observatories may find other ULXs in the same galaxy, giving them another chance to test their theory.
Dr Middleton said: "If we do manage to spot another ULX outburst in Andromeda it will be a big help in understanding the extreme behaviour of black holes and the way they pull in matter – something of great importance in shaping the wider universe."
The research work in the UK was funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
SCIENCE CONTACT
Dr Matt Middleton
Department of Physics
Durham University
Tel: +44 (0)191 334 3728
Email: m.j.middleton@durham.ac.uk
MEDIA CONTACTS
Dr Robert Massey
Royal Astronomical Society
Tel: +44 (0)20 7734 3307 x214
Mob: +44 (0)794 124 8035
Email: rm@ras.org.uk
Leighton Kitson
Media Relations Officer
Durham University
Tel: +44 (0)191 334 6074/+44 (0)191 334 6075
Email: leighton.kitson@durham.ac.uk / media.relations@durham.ac.uk
Dr Hannelore Hämmerle
Press officer
Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics
Garching, Germany
Tel: +49 (0)89 30000 3980
Email: hhaemmerle@mpa-garching.mpg.de
FURTHER INFORMATION
The new work will be published in "The missing link: a low mass X-ray binary in M31 seen as an ultraluminous X-ray source", Middleton, M. J. et al, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, in press.
A copy of the paper is available on request from Durham University Media Relations Office on +44 (0)191 334 6075 or email media.relations@durham.ac.uk
German and English language versions of the release are also available from the Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik (MPE, Garching, Germany) http://www.mpe.mpg.de/News/PR20120223/text-d.html and http://www.mpe.mpg.de/News/PR20120223/text.html
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Durham University
Durham University is a World Top-100 university with a global reputation in research and education across the arts and humanities, sciences and social sciences. It is England's third oldest university and Durham has been a leading centre of scholarship for a thousand years. At the University's heart is a UNESCO World Heritage site which it owns, together with Durham Cathedral. Durham is consistently ranked in the top few universities in the UK and the leading university in the North. Its residential Collegiate system enables the University to recruit some of the most talented and motivated students from around the world to develop transferable skills such as leadership, alongside academic excellence, which place Durham graduates in the World Top-15 for global student employability.*
* 2011 QS World University Rankings
The Royal Astronomical Society
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS, www.ras.org.uk), founded in 1820, encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. The RAS organizes scientific meetings, publishes international research and review journals, recognizes outstanding achievements by the award of medals and prizes, maintains an extensive library, supports education through grants and outreach activities and represents UK astronomy nationally and internationally. Its more than 3500 members (Fellows), a third based overseas, include scientific researchers in universities, observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.
* 2011 QS World University Rankings
The Royal Astronomical Society
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS, www.ras.org.uk), founded in 1820, encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. The RAS organizes scientific meetings, publishes international research and review journals, recognizes outstanding achievements by the award of medals and prizes, maintains an extensive library, supports education through grants and outreach activities and represents UK astronomy nationally and internationally. Its more than 3500 members (Fellows), a third based overseas, include scientific researchers in universities, observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.
Follow the RAS on Twitter via @royalastrosoc
