Suzaku investigation into the nature of the nearest ultraluminous X-ray source, M33 X-8

TL;DR

This study analyzes Suzaku X-ray data of M33 X-8, revealing it likely hosts a stellar-mass black hole accreting at high rates with a slim disk, challenging the need for intermediate-mass black holes to explain ultraluminous X-ray sources.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the X-ray spectrum of M33 X-8 can be explained by a slim disk model around a stellar-mass black hole, without requiring intermediate-mass black holes.

Findings

High disk temperature and small temperature gradient indicate slim disk accretion.

Estimated black hole mass is around 10 solar masses.

Luminosity is about 80% of the Eddington limit, not super-Eddington.

Abstract

The X-ray spectrum of the nearest ultraluminous X-ray source, M33 X-8, obtained by Suzaku during 2010 January 11 -- 13, was closely analyzed to examine its nature. It is, by far, the only data with the highest signal statistic in 0.4 -- 10 keV range. Despite being able to reproduce the X-ray spectrum, Comptonization of the disk photons failed to give a physically meaningful solution. A modified version of the multi-color disk model, in which the dependence of the disk temperature on the radius is described as r^(-p) with p being a free parameter, can also approximate the spectrum. From this model, the innermost disk temperature and bolometric luminosity were obtained as T_in = 2.00-0.05+0.06 keV and L_disk = 1.36 x 10^39 (cos i)^(-1) ergs/s, respectively, where i is the disk inclination. A small temperature gradient of p = 0.535-0.005+0.004, together with the high disk temperature, is regarded as the signatures of the slim accretion disk model, suggesting that M33 X-8 was accreting at high mass accretion rate. With a correction factor for the slim disk taken into account, the innermost disk radius, R_in =81.9-6.5+5.9 (cos i)^(-0.5) km, corresponds to the black hole mass of M \sim 10 M_sun (cos i)^(-0.5). Accordingly, the bolometric disk luminosity is estimated to be about 80 (cos i)^(-0.5)% of the Eddington limit. A numerically calculated slim disk spectrum was found to reach a similar result. Thus, the extremely super-Eddington luminosity is not required to explain the nature of M33 X-8. This conclusion is utilized to argue for the existence of intermediate mass black holes with M > 100 M_sun radiating at the sub/trans-Eddington luminosity, among ultraluminous X-ray sources with L_disk > 10^(40) ergs/s.