Intermediate-mass black holes in galactic globular clusters

PEPE, C.; PELLIZZA, L.J.

Rio de Janeiro

Congreso; IAU Symposium 266: Star clusters; 2009

Unión Astronómica Internacional

Over the last few years, different observations have suggested the existence of intermediate-mass (~ 10^3M⊙) black holes in the center of globular clusters. An extended, central X-ray source observed in NGC 6388 could be interpreted as being powered by the accretion of matter onto such an object. However, the origin of the accreted matter is still unknown. In this work we explore a scenario in which the black hole accretes from the cluster interstellar medium and we develope a hydrodinamical model for the latter. In first place, we show that the X-ray luminosity of the central source in NGC 6388 can be explained by this  scenario, if we assume an accretion efficiency similar to that found by other authors. On the other hand, we find a cualitative difference in the density profiles when including the black hole to the gravitational potential which provides a possible method for determining the presence of intermediate mass black holes in the centers of globular clusters.