ULX in M74: An Ultraluminous X-ray Source in the Spiral Galaxy M74
Caption: This composite X-ray (red)/optical (blue & white) image of M74 highlights an unusually bright X-ray source called a ULX (see box). The ULX produces strong, nearly periodic variations in its X-ray brightness every two hours. These variations are likely produced by changes in a disk of hot gas around a black hole. More massive black holes have larger disks, which are expected to vary over longer periods. The observed two-hour variation suggests that this black hole has a mass of about 10,000 Suns, which would indicate that it belongs to a possible new class of black holes intermediate mass black holes. These black holes have masses well above known stellar-mass black holes of about 10 solar masses, and well below the multimillion solar mass black holes in the centers of galaxies.
Scale: X-ray image is 9 arcmin per side.
Chandra X-ray Observatory ACIS Image
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