Optical Counterparts of Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources

Gutiérrez, C. M.
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 640, Issue 1, pp. L17-L20.

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3
2006
Number of authors
1
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
18
Refereed citations
17
Description
We present the optical identification and characterization of counterparts of four objects previously cataloged as ultraluminous X-ray (ULX) sources. The objects were selected from the E. Colbert & A. Ptak catalog. The optical counterparts are identified as pointlike objects with magnitudes in the range of ~17-19. The optical spectra of three of the sources (IXO 32, 37, and 40) show the presence of emission lines typical of quasars. The position of these lines allows a precise estimation of their redshifts (2.769, 0.567, and 0.789 for IXO 32, 37, and 40, respectively). The fourth X-ray source, IXO 35, is associated with a red object that has a spectrum typical of an M star in our Galaxy. These identifications are useful for building clean samples of ULX sources, selecting suitable targets for future observations, and performing statistical studies on the different populations of X-ray sources.