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In-depth studies of the NGC 253 ULXs with XMM-Newton: remarkable variability in ULX1, and evidence for extended coronae

We examined the variability of three ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in the 2003, 110 ks XMM-Newton observation of NGC253. Remarkably, we discovered ULX1 to be three times more variable than ULX2 in the 0.3--10 keV band, even though ULX2 is brighter. Indeed, ULX1 exhibits a power density spectrum that is consistent with the canonical high state or very high/steep power law state, but not the canonical low state. The 0.3--10 keV emission of ULX1 is predominantly non-thermal, and may be related to the very high state. We also fitted the ULX spectra with disc blackbody, slim disc and convolution Comptonization (SIMPL x DISKBB) models. The brightest ULX spectra are usually described by a two emission components (disc blackbody + Comptonized component); however, the SIMPL model results in a single emission component, and may help determine whether the well known soft excess is a feature of ULX spectra or an artifact of the two-component model. The SIMPL models were rejected for ULX3 (and also for the black hole + Wolf-Rayet binary IC10 X-1); hence, we infer that the observed soft-excesses are genuine features of ULX emission spectra. We use an extended corona scenario to explain the soft excess seen in all the highest quality ULX spectra, and provide a mechanism for stellar mass black holes to exhibit super-Eddington luminosities while remaining locally sub-Eddington.