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An intermediate-mass black hole of over 500 solar masses in the galaxy ESO 243-49

An intermediate-mass black hole of over 500 solar masses in the galaxy ESO 243-49

Publication date: 03 July 2009

Authors: Farrell, S.A. et al.

Journal: Nature
Volume: 460
Issue: 7251
Page: 73-75
Year: 2009

Copyright: Nature Publishing Group

Ultraluminous X-ray sources are extragalactic objects located outside the nucleus of the host galaxy with bolometric luminosities exceeding 1039 erg s-1. These extreme luminosities - if the emission is isotropic and below the theoretical (Eddington) limit, where the radiation pressure is balanced by the gravitational pressure - imply the presence of an accreting black hole with a mass of ~ 10²-105 solar masses. The existence of such intermediate-mass black holes is in dispute, and though many candidates have been proposed, none are widely accepted as definitive. Here we report the detection of a variable X-ray source with a maximum 0.2-10 keV luminosity of up to 1.1 x 1042 erg s-1 in the edge-on spiral galaxy ESO 243-49, with an implied conservative lower limit for the mass of the black hole of 500 solar masses.

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