Multiband counterparts of two eclipsing ultraluminous X-ray sources in M 51

TL;DR

This study discovers and analyzes ionized nebulae around two eclipsing ultraluminous X-ray sources in M51, revealing shock-ionization and jet activity in one, and a chance-aligned H II region in the other, using multi-wavelength observations.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed optical and radio analysis of nebulae around these ULXs, identifying shock-ionization and jet signatures in one source and a chance alignment in the other.

Findings

ULX-1 nebula is shock-ionized, likely by a jet.

ULX-2 nebula is an unrelated H II region.

Radio emission detected at ULX-1 location supports jet activity.

Abstract

We present the discovery and interpretation of ionized nebulae around two ultraluminous X-ray sources in M 51; both sources share the rare property of showing X-ray eclipses by their companion stars, and are therefore prime targets for follow-up studies. Using archival Hubble Space Telescope images, we found an elongated, 100-pc-long emission-line structure associated with one X-ray source (CXOM51 J132940.0+471237; ULX-1 for simplicity), and a more circular, ionized nebula at the location of the second source (CXOM51 J132939.5+471244; ULX-2 for simplicity). We observed both nebulae with the Large Binocular Telescope's Multi-Object Double Spectrograph. From our analysis of the optical spectra, we argue that the gas in the ULX-1 bubble is shock-ionized, consistent with the effect of a jet with a kinetic power of $\approx$2 $\times 10^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Additional X-ray photo-ionization may also be present, to explain the strength of high-ionization lines such as He II $\lambda 4686$ and [Ne V] $\lambda 3426$. On the other hand, the emission lines from the ULX-2 bubble are typical for photoionization by normal O stars suggesting that the nebula is actually an H II region not physically related to the ULX but is simply a chance alignment. From archival Very Large Array data, we also detect spatially extended, steep-spectrum radio emission at the location of the ULX-1 bubble (consistent with its jet origin), but no radio counterpart for ULX-2 (consistent with the lack of shock-ionized gas around that source).