Bubble in the Whale: Identifying the Optical Counterparts and Extended Nebula for the Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in NGC 4631
We present a deep optical imaging campaign on the starburst galaxy NGC 4631 with CFHT/MegaCam. By supplementing the HST/ACS and Chandra/ACIS archival data, we search for the optical counterpart candidates of the five brightest X-ray sources in this galaxy, four of which are identified as ultralumino...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acaddd |
| _version_ | 1797695793286610944 |
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| author | Jing Guo Jianfeng Wu Hua Feng Zheng Cai Ping Zhou Changxing Zhou Shiwu Zhang Junfeng Wang Mouyuan Sun Wei-Min Gu Shan-Shan Weng Jifeng Liu |
| author_facet | Jing Guo Jianfeng Wu Hua Feng Zheng Cai Ping Zhou Changxing Zhou Shiwu Zhang Junfeng Wang Mouyuan Sun Wei-Min Gu Shan-Shan Weng Jifeng Liu |
| author_sort | Jing Guo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We present a deep optical imaging campaign on the starburst galaxy NGC 4631 with CFHT/MegaCam. By supplementing the HST/ACS and Chandra/ACIS archival data, we search for the optical counterpart candidates of the five brightest X-ray sources in this galaxy, four of which are identified as ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). The stellar environments of the X-ray sources are analyzed using the extinction-corrected color–magnitude diagrams and the isochrone models. We discover a highly asymmetric bubble nebula around X4 that exhibits different morphology in the H α and [O iii ] images. The [O iii ]/H α ratio map shows that the H α -bright bubble may be formed mainly via the shock ionization by the one-sided jet/outflow, while the more compact [O iii ] structure is photoionized by the ULX. We constrain the bubble expansion velocity and interstellar medium density with the MAPPINGS V code and hence estimate the mechanical power injected into the bubble as P _w ∼ 5 × 10 ^40 erg s ^−1 and the corresponding bubble age as ∼7 × 10 ^5 yr. Relativistic jets are needed to provide such a level of mechanical power with a mass-loss rate of ∼10 ^−7 M _⊙ yr ^−1 . Besides the accretion, the black hole spin is likely an additional energy source for the super-Eddington jet power. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:17:19Z |
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| id | doaj.art-b95b3926482f4831946af51598e93327 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:17:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-b95b3926482f4831946af51598e933272023-09-03T14:08:25ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-0194627210.3847/1538-4357/acadddBubble in the Whale: Identifying the Optical Counterparts and Extended Nebula for the Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in NGC 4631Jing Guo0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9346-3677Jianfeng Wu1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7349-4695Hua Feng2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7584-6236Zheng Cai3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8467-6478Ping Zhou4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5683-822XChangxing Zhou5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5954-2571Shiwu Zhang6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0427-9577Junfeng Wang7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4874-0369Mouyuan Sun8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0771-2153Wei-Min Gu9https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3137-1851Shan-Shan Weng10https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7595-1458Jifeng Liu11https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2874-2706Department of Astronomy, Xiamen University , Xiamen, Fujian 361005, People's Republic of China ; wujianfeng@xmu.edu.cnDepartment of Astronomy, Xiamen University , Xiamen, Fujian 361005, People's Republic of China ; wujianfeng@xmu.edu.cnDepartment of Astronomy, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China; Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, People's Republic of ChinaDepartment of Astronomy, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, People's Republic of ChinaSchool of Astronomy & Space Science, Nanjing University , 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of China; Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nanjing University , Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of ChinaDepartment of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, People's Republic of ChinaDepartment of Astronomy, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, People's Republic of ChinaDepartment of Astronomy, Xiamen University , Xiamen, Fujian 361005, People's Republic of China ; wujianfeng@xmu.edu.cnDepartment of Astronomy, Xiamen University , Xiamen, Fujian 361005, People's Republic of China ; wujianfeng@xmu.edu.cnDepartment of Astronomy, Xiamen University , Xiamen, Fujian 361005, People's Republic of China ; wujianfeng@xmu.edu.cnDepartment of Physics and Institute of Theoretical Physics, Nanjing Normal University , Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China; School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China; WHU-NAOC Joint Center for Astronomy, Wuhan University , Wuhan, Hubei 430072, People's Republic of ChinaWe present a deep optical imaging campaign on the starburst galaxy NGC 4631 with CFHT/MegaCam. By supplementing the HST/ACS and Chandra/ACIS archival data, we search for the optical counterpart candidates of the five brightest X-ray sources in this galaxy, four of which are identified as ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). The stellar environments of the X-ray sources are analyzed using the extinction-corrected color–magnitude diagrams and the isochrone models. We discover a highly asymmetric bubble nebula around X4 that exhibits different morphology in the H α and [O iii ] images. The [O iii ]/H α ratio map shows that the H α -bright bubble may be formed mainly via the shock ionization by the one-sided jet/outflow, while the more compact [O iii ] structure is photoionized by the ULX. We constrain the bubble expansion velocity and interstellar medium density with the MAPPINGS V code and hence estimate the mechanical power injected into the bubble as P _w ∼ 5 × 10 ^40 erg s ^−1 and the corresponding bubble age as ∼7 × 10 ^5 yr. Relativistic jets are needed to provide such a level of mechanical power with a mass-loss rate of ∼10 ^−7 M _⊙ yr ^−1 . Besides the accretion, the black hole spin is likely an additional energy source for the super-Eddington jet power.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acadddUltraluminous x-ray sourcesEmission nebulaeAccretionX-ray binary stars |
| spellingShingle | Jing Guo Jianfeng Wu Hua Feng Zheng Cai Ping Zhou Changxing Zhou Shiwu Zhang Junfeng Wang Mouyuan Sun Wei-Min Gu Shan-Shan Weng Jifeng Liu Bubble in the Whale: Identifying the Optical Counterparts and Extended Nebula for the Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in NGC 4631 The Astrophysical Journal Ultraluminous x-ray sources Emission nebulae Accretion X-ray binary stars |
| title | Bubble in the Whale: Identifying the Optical Counterparts and Extended Nebula for the Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in NGC 4631 |
| title_full | Bubble in the Whale: Identifying the Optical Counterparts and Extended Nebula for the Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in NGC 4631 |
| title_fullStr | Bubble in the Whale: Identifying the Optical Counterparts and Extended Nebula for the Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in NGC 4631 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bubble in the Whale: Identifying the Optical Counterparts and Extended Nebula for the Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in NGC 4631 |
| title_short | Bubble in the Whale: Identifying the Optical Counterparts and Extended Nebula for the Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in NGC 4631 |
| title_sort | bubble in the whale identifying the optical counterparts and extended nebula for the ultraluminous x ray sources in ngc 4631 |
| topic | Ultraluminous x-ray sources Emission nebulae Accretion X-ray binary stars |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acaddd |
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