Tomasz Nowakowski is a writer for the website Phys.org.
The observations were made in the 0.1-10.0 keV band. The credit was given to Earley et al.
Researchers from the University of Chicago and Fordham University have been monitoring three ultraluminous X-ray sources in the spiral galaxy. The results of the research, presented in a paper published December 22 on arXiv.org, provide more insights into the properties of these sources and could help us better understand the nature of the host galaxy.
Each point source in the sky emits more radiation than 1 million suns at all wavelengths, because they are so bright in X-rays. They are more Luminous than any known stellar process. The basic nature of ULXs remains a puzzle despite numerous studies.
Long-term monitoring using a wide range of models is required in order to fully determine and understand the nature of ULXs. The data collected from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the XMM-Newton spacecraft have been analyzed by Nicholas M. Earley and his team. They focused on the observations of a barred spiral galaxy called NGC 891 and its ultraluminous X-ray sources.
In the paper, the researchers wrote that they performed empirical fits to the Chandra and XMM-Newton spectrum of three ultraluminous X-ray sources in the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 891.
The study shows that the light curve of ULX-1 has a slight decrease in flux from 2000 to 2003 but that the source has a slight evolution in its wavelength. The long-term stability of the light curve suggests that the source is not a variable object. The column density of ULX-1 was estimated to be around 8 sextillion cm-2.
ULX-2 appears to be between 20 and 50 percent higher than ULX-1, which is expected from the count rates. The source has a column density of 0.2 sextillion cm2. The value is lower than the one found for ULX-1 by a factor of a few and is also lower than the other ULXs' column densities.
The lowest of the three studied sources with a level of 2 duodecillion erg/s, ULX 3 is the faintest of the three. The column density was found to be 2 sextillion cm-2. The research shows that the column density around this source decreased by seven in the month of January. The astronomer said that ULX-3 no longer qualifies as 'ultraluminous' as its lower luminosity value is more consistent with other high energy sources.
A long-term study of ultraluminous X-ray sources in the constellation of 891.
The Science X Network will be launched in 2021.
Researchers retrieved Ultraluminous X-ray sources from the NGC 891 on December 30, 2021.
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