Optical Properties of the Ultraluminous X-ray Source Holmberg IX X-1 and
  its Stellar Environment
  Holmberg IX X-1 is an archetypal ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX). Here we
study the properties of the optical counterpart and of its stellar environment
using optical data from SUBARU/Faint Object Camera and
Spectrograph,GEMINI/GMOS-N and Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Advanced Camera for
Surveys, as well as simultaneous Chandra X-ray data. The V ~ 22.6
spectroscopically identified optical counterpart is part of a loose cluster
with an age <~ 20 Myr. Consequently, the mass upper limit on individual stars
in the association is about 20 M_sun. The counterpart is more luminous than the
other stars of the association, suggesting a non-negligible optical
contribution from the accretion disk. An observed UV excess also points to
non-stellar light similar to X-ray active low-mass X-ray binaries. A broad
HeII4686 emission line identified in the optical spectrum of the ULX further
suggests optical light from X-ray reprocessing in the accretion disk. Using
stellar evolutionary tracks, we have constrained the mass of the counterpart to
be >~ 10 M_sun, even if the accretion disk contributes significantly to the
optical luminosity. Comparison of the photometric properties of the counterpart
with binary models show that the donor may be more massive, >~ 25 M_sun, with
the ULX system likely undergoing case AB mass transfer. Finally, the
counterpart exhibits photometric variability of 0.14 mag between two HST
observations separated by 50 days which could be due to ellipsoidal variations
and/or disk reprocessing of variable X-ray emission.
