Interpretation of the 115 day periodic modulation in the X-ray flux of NGC 5408 X-1

We comment on the recent observation of a 115 day modulation in the X-ray flux of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC 5408 X-1, and in particular, the interpretation of this modulation as the orbital period. We suggest that this modulation may instead be due to a precessing jet, and is thus superorbital in nature. Comparing the properties of this ULX with those of the prototypical micro-quasar SS 433, we argue that NGC 5408 X-1 is very similar to SS 433: a hyper-accreting stellar-mass black hole in a shorter-period binary. If the analogy holds, the 115 day modulation is best explained by the still poorly understood physics of inner-disk/jet precession and a longer observing baseline would be able to reveal an intrinsic phase jitter that is associated with such a precession. © 2010 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.