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The restless population of bright X-ray sources of NCG 3621
- Source :
- A&A 689, A217 (2024)
- Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- We report on the multi-year evolution of the population of X-ray sources in the nuclear region of NGC 3621 based on Chandra, XMM-Newton and Swift observations. Among these, two sources, X1 and X5, after their first detection in 2008, seem to have faded below the detectability threshold, a most interesting fact as X1 is associated with the AGN of the galaxy. Two other sources, X3 and X6 are presented for the first time, the former showing a peculiar short-term variability in the latest available dataset, suggesting an egress from eclipse, hence belonging to the handful of known eclipsing ultra-luminous X-ray sources. One source, X4, previously known for its "heart-beat", i.e. a characteristic modulation in its signal with a period of $\approx1$ h, shows a steady behaviour in the latest observation. Finally, the brightest X-ray source in NGC 3621, here labelled X2, shows steady levels of flux across all the available datasets but a change in its spectral shape, reminiscent of the behaviours of Galactic disk-fed X-ray binaries.<br />Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, 2 appendices available online. Accepted for publication on A&A
- Subjects :
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Subjects
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Journal :
- A&A 689, A217 (2024)
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.2407.00150
- Document Type :
- Working Paper
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202450319