The ULX source X-3 in NGC 4258: a search for its X-ray and optical properties


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AKYÜZ A., Avdan S., Allak S., AKSAKER N., Oralhan I. A., BALMAN Ş.

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, vol.499, no.2, pp.2138-2147, 2020 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 499 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2020
  • Doi Number: 10.1093/mnras/staa2823
  • Journal Name: MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aerospace Database, Applied Science & Technology Source, Communication Abstracts, INSPEC, Metadex, zbMATH, DIALNET, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.2138-2147
  • Çukurova University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

We present the results of a search for the nature of ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) X-3 in the nearby galaxy NGC 4258. We use archival data from XMM-Newton, Chandra, NuSTAR, and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations. Total X-ray data were analysed to find that the model parameters of the system are indicative of a stellar-mass black hole, similar to 10 M-circle dot, as the central compact object. Furthermore, analyses of the optical data from HST reveal two optical candidates at 90 per cent confidence level within an error radius of 0.28 arcsec. Assuming the optical emission is dominated by the donor star, both of these candidates are found to have spectral types that lie between B3 and F1 with absolute magnitudes of M-V approximate to -6.4. Moreover, the age and mass estimates for the candidates are found to be 10 and 18 Myr and 13 and 20 M-circle dot, respectively.