Metal-THINGS: On the metallicity and ionization of ULX sources in NGC 925

TL;DR

This study investigates the optical properties, metallicity, and ionization of ULX sources in NGC 925, revealing low metallicity environments associated with ULX-1 and typical conditions for ULX-3, contributing to understanding ULX formation environments.

Contribution

First detailed optical and kinematic analysis of ULX sources in NGC 925, linking metallicity and ionization to ULX nature and environment.

Findings

ULX-1 is in a low-metallicity region with high accretion activity.

ULX-3 is in a high-metallicity, evolved stellar environment.

Most of NGC 925's regions are dominated by star formation.

Abstract

We present an analysis of the optical properties of three Ultra Luminous X-ray (ULX) sources identified in NGC 925. We use Integral field unit data from the George Mitchel spectrograph in the context of the Metal-THINGS survey. The optical properties for ULX-1 and ULX-3 are presented, while the spaxel associated with ULX-2 had a low S/N, which prevented its analysis. We also report the kinematics and dimensions of the optical nebula associated with each ULX using ancillary data from the PUMA Fabry-Perot spectrograph. A BPT analysis demonstrates that most spaxels in NGC 925 are dominated by star-forming regions, including those associated with ULX-1 and ULX-3. Using the resolved gas-phase metallicities, a negative metallicity gradient is found, consistent with previous results for spiral galaxies, while the ionization parameter tends to increase radially throughout the galaxy. Interestingly, ULX-1 shows a very low gas metallicity for its galactocentric distance, identified by two independent methods, while exhibiting a typical ionization. We find that such low gas metallicity is best explained in the context of the high-mass X-ray binary population, where the low-metallicity environment favours active Roche lobe overflows that can drive much higher accretion rates. An alternative scenario invoking accretion of a low-mass galaxy is not supported by the data in this region. Finally, ULX-3 shows both a high metallicity and ionization parameter, which is consistent with the progenitor being a highly-accreting neutron star within an evolved stellar population region.