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A&A 466, L17-L20 (2007)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20077363
Letter
A 33 hour period for the Wolf-Rayet/black hole X-ray binary candidate NGC 300 X-1
S. Carpano1, A. M. T. Pollock1, A. Prestwich2, P. Crowther3, J. Wilms4, L. Yungelson5, and M. Ehle11 XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre, ESAC, ESA, PO Box 50727, 28080 Madrid, Spain
e-mail: scarpano@sciops.esa.int
2 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
3 Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Rd, Sheffield S3 7RH, UK
4 Dr. Remeis-Observatory, Astronomisches Institut der FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Sternwartstr. 7, 96049 Bamberg, Germany
5 Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 48 Pyatnitskaya Str., 119017 Moscow, Russia
(Received 27 February 2007 / Accepted 10 March 2007)
Abstract
Context.NGC 300 X-1 is the second extragalactic candidate, after IC 10 X-1, in the rare class of Wolf-Rayet/compact object X-ray binary systems exemplified in the Galaxy by Cyg X-3.
From a theoretical point of view, accretion onto a black hole in a detached system is possible for large orbital periods only if the mass of the relativistic object is high or the velocity of the accreted wind is low.
Aims.We analysed a 2 week SWIFT XRT light curve of NGC 300 X-1 and searched for periodicities.
Methods.Period searches were made using Lomb-Scargle periodogram analysis. We evaluated the confidence level using Monte Carlo simulations.
Results.A period of 32.8 
0.4 h (3
error)
was found for NGC 300 X-1 with a confidence level >99%. Furthermore, we confirm the high irregular variability
during the high flux level, as
already observed in the
XMM-Newton observations of the source. A folded
XMM-Newton light curve is shown, with a
profile that is in agreement with SWIFT. The mean absorbed X-ray luminosity in
the SWIFT observations was
1.5
1038 erg s-1, close to the value derived from the
XMM-Newton data.
Conclusions.While Cyg X-3 has a short period of 4.8 h, the period of NGC 300 X-1 is very close to that of IC 10 X-1
(34.8 0.9 h). These are likely orbital periods. Possibility of formation of
accretion disk for such high orbital periods strongly depends on the terminal velocity of the Wolf-Rayet
star wind and black-hole mass. While low masses are possible for wind velocities 
1000 km s-1,
these increase to several tens of solar masses
for velocities >1600 km s-1 and no accretion disk may form for terminal velocities larger
than 1900 km s-1.
Key words: X-rays: individuals: NGC 300 X-1 -- X-rays: binaries -- stars: Wolf-Rayet
© ESO 2007