An Intermediate-Mass Black Hole Candidate in the Globular Cluster GCl 2551

An Intermediate-Mass Black Hole Candidate in the Globular Cluster GCl 2551 | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article An Intermediate-Mass Black Hole Candidate in the Globular Cluster GCl 2551 Elio Quiroga Rodríguez This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5763691/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract GCl 2551 [RZ2004], an isolated globular cluster situated near M104, exhibits an intriguing X-ray emission with a luminosity of 3.23 Å~ 1037 erg/s. This emission is significantly higher than what is typically observed in globular clusters, prompting questions about its origin. One possible explanation is the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) at the cluster's core. To explore this hypothesis, the paper examines the characteristics of IMBHs and their expected X-ray emissions, comparing the observed luminosity of GCl 2551 to the Eddington luminosity for an IMBH. The findings indicate that the observed luminosity is below the Eddington limit, suggesting that if an IMBH is present, it is likely accreting at a sub-Eddington rate. The text also considers alternative sources for the X-ray emission, such as a population of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) or supernova remnants. However, the compact nature of the X-ray source and its location within a globular cluster strengthen the case for an IMBH. Further observations, including X-ray spectroscopy, variability studies, and multi-wavelength analyses, are recommended to confirm the presence of an IMBH in GCl 2551. Intermediate-mass black hole globular cluster X-ray luminosity sub-Eddington accretion compact source IMBH Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5763691","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":399023492,"identity":"7a5e64ce-108a-470a-8157-fe0ff2c12bfe","order_by":0,"name":"Elio Quiroga Rodríguez","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Universidad del Atlantico Medio","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Elio","middleName":"Quiroga","lastName":"Rodríguez","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-04 13:08:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5763691/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5763691/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":78746655,"identity":"b7c5c627-ae87-45a2-a4f8-5af6b6fa5175","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-18 10:39:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":274391,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"bocetopaperCLDEFokokREVworking4ok.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5763691/v1_covered_cdbb150f-c233-456c-9f43-7cef1d1428ca.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"An Intermediate-Mass Black Hole Candidate in the Globular Cluster GCl 2551","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Intermediate-mass black hole, globular cluster, X-ray luminosity, sub-Eddington accretion, compact source, IMBH","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5763691/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5763691/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"GCl 2551 [RZ2004], an isolated globular cluster situated near M104, exhibits an intriguing X-ray\nemission with a luminosity of 3.23 Å~ 1037 erg/s. This emission is significantly higher than what is\ntypically observed in globular clusters, prompting questions about its origin. One possible\nexplanation is the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) at the cluster's core. To\nexplore this hypothesis, the paper examines the characteristics of IMBHs and their expected X-ray\nemissions, comparing the observed luminosity of GCl 2551 to the Eddington luminosity for an\nIMBH. The findings indicate that the observed luminosity is below the Eddington limit, suggesting\nthat if an IMBH is present, it is likely accreting at a sub-Eddington rate. The text also considers\nalternative sources for the X-ray emission, such as a population of low-mass X-ray binaries\n(LMXBs) or supernova remnants. However, the compact nature of the X-ray source and its location\nwithin a globular cluster strengthen the case for an IMBH. Further observations, including X-ray\nspectroscopy, variability studies, and multi-wavelength analyses, are recommended to confirm the\npresence of an IMBH in GCl 2551.","manuscriptTitle":"An Intermediate-Mass Black Hole Candidate in the Globular Cluster GCl 2551","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-01-08 04:16:56","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5763691/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"45405776-1f61-4613-ae94-da02e698ed6e","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 8th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-03-18T10:38:24+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-01-08 04:16:56","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5763691","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5763691","identity":"rs-5763691","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}