M 51 Chandra X-Ray Source Catalog: 113 Detected Sources from Two Observations

Two Chandra ACIS instrument observations of the spiral galaxy M 51 (NGC 5194 and NGC 5195) on 2000 June 20 and 2001 June 23. The catalog contains 113 detected X-ray sources within an 8.4' x 8.4' region, with 84 and 12 projecting within the disks of NGC 5194 and NGC 5195, respectively. This table was created by NASA HEASARC in March 2007 based on CDS catalog files.

Use Cases

• Identify and analyze ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) based on luminosity exceeding 1e39 erg/s.
• Study the spatial correlation between X-ray sources and spiral arms based on location data.
• Compare X-ray source populations between the two interacting galaxies NGC 5194 and NGC 5195.
• Analyze source luminosity distributions in the 0.5-8 keV energy band.
• Investigate temporal changes in X-ray sources using observations separated by one year.

Strengths

• Contains 113 discrete X-ray sources with positional and luminosity data.
• Includes 9 sources classified as ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), a high count for normal galaxies.
• Data from two Chandra observations with effective exposure times of 14.9 ks and 26.8 ks.
• Sources are located within a defined 20.4 x 20.4 kpc region, providing spatial context.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect observational bias inherent to the specific Chandra instrument and exposure times.

Provenance

Source

NASA HEASARC, based on CDS catalog J/ApJ/601/735.

Collection Method

Observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory's ACIS instrument.

Time Range

Observations performed on 2000 June 20 and 2001 June 23.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 17:39:17.747532; freshness should be verified.

Geography

The spiral galaxy M 51 (NGC 5194 and NGC 5195).