Bibcode
Garcia, M.
Bibliographical reference
Populations of High Energy Sources in Galaxies Proceedings of the 230th Symposium of the International Astronomical Union, Held in Dublin, Ireland 15-19 August 2005, Edited by E. J. A. Meurs; G. Fabbiano. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006., pp.154-154
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2006
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
From October 1999 to the present Chandra has taken nearly monthly
snap-shot observations of M31. The first 3 years of this dataset in
combination with deeper but less frequent XMM observations has allowed
the detection of 45 X-ray transients within M31. By analogy to our
Galaxy, many of these transients are likely black hole candidates. We
have indentified a few optical counterparts of these possible black
holes via simultaneous HST imaging. The census allows a study of the
endpoints of stellar evolution in our nearest neighbor galaxy. When
stacked, the observations also allow a deep study of the M31 X-ray
source population, which turns up a few surprises. The supermassive
black hole in the center of M31 is the next nearest one after Sgr A*.
Chandra and HST observations allow the detection of a weak X-ray source
at the position of this SMBH. These observations provide some of the
most secure and severe limitations on accretion in SMBH.