Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources in Nearby Galaxies Catalog

An estimated 14 objects, or 13%, of the 107 ULX candidates are expected to be background sources. The differential ULX luminosity function shows a power-law slope alpha ~ -0.8 to -2.0 with an exponential cutoff at ~20 x 10<sup>39</sup> erg s<sup>-1</sup> with precise values depending on the model and on whether the ULX luminosities are estimated from their observed numbers of counts or, for a subset of candidates, from their spectral shapes.

Extrapolating the observed luminosity function predicts at most one very luminous ULX, L<sub>X</sub> ~ 10<sup>41</sup> erg s<sup>-1</sup>, within a distance as small as 100 Mpc. The luminosity distribution of ULXs within the local universe cannot account for the recent claims of luminosities in excess of 2 x 10<sup>41</sup> erg s<sup>-1</sup>, requiring a new population class to explain these extreme objects.

This table was created by the HEASARC in November 2011 based on an electronic version of Table 1 from the reference paper that was obtained from the ApJ web site. This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .