Rapid turn-on of a luminous X-ray source in the candidate Lyman continuum emitting galaxy Tol 0440-381 [HEAP]

http://arxiv.org/abs/2201.03138


Chandra observations of the nearby, candidate Lyman-continuum (LyC) emitting galaxy Tol 0440-381 show brightening of an X-ray source by at least a factor of 4 to a luminosity of 1.6E40 erg/s over 3.8~days. The X-ray emission likely arises from either a low-luminosity AGN or an ultraluminous X-ray source. The properties of the X-ray source are similar to those found in Haro 11 and Tololo 1247-232, the only other LyC-emitting galaxies that have been resolved in X-rays. All three galaxies host luminous, variable, and hard spectrum X-ray sources that are likely accretion-powered. Accretion onto compact objects produces powerful outflows and ionizing radiation that could help enable LyC escape.

Read this paper on arXiv…

P. Kaaret, J. Bluem and A. Prestwich
Tue, 11 Jan 22
75/95

Comments: 5 pages, to appear in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters