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Shedding light on the nature of ESO 243-49 HLX-1

The point-like X-ray source HLX-1, close to the S0 galaxy ESO 243-49, is one of the strongest intermediate-mass black hole candidates. We discuss the hypothesis that ESO 243-49 is undergoing a minor merger with a gas-rich disc galaxy. We propose that the counterpart of HLX-1 coincides with the nucleus of the secondary galaxy. We re-analyze the available photometric HST data, and we compare them with the results of N-body/smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations. In particular, we derive synthetic surface brightness profiles for the simulated counterpart of HLX-1 in six HST filters, ranging from far ultraviolet (FUV) to infrared wavelengths. Such synthetic profiles include a contribution from the stellar population associated with the simulated disrupted satellite and a contribution from an irradiated disc model. These are in agreement with the observed surface brightness profiles of the HLX-1 counterpart, provided that the merger is at sufficiently late stage (>~2.5 Gyr since the first pericentre passage). The main difference between models and observations is in the FUV band, where the HST image shows a fuzzy and extended emission.