NGC 5474 X-1: A neutron star ultraluminous X-ray source in an old stellar cluster?

We present an optical and X-ray study of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC 5474 X-1. The X-ray spectrum taken during the bright state of the source (LX similar to 2 x10(40) erg s(-1)) shows signatures of a broad absorption line at similar or equal to 8 keV, which may be a cyclotron resonant scattering feature. This implies that this system may host a neutron star with a magnetic field of similar to 10(12) G. The first observation of this area with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), carried out 14 months later, revealed that the source was bright in the optical range as well. Subsequent observations have shown that the source faded in both ranges (more than 2.8 mag in the U band and by a factor of 50-100 in the X-ray) and has never become bright again. Deeper HST observations made it possible to impose constraints on the donor star spectral class and mass ( < 7 M-circle dot), as well as to identify a stellar cluster of about 1 Gyr, the centre of which is located at a projected distance of similar to 2 pc from NGC 5474 X-1. The ULX could be a member of this old cluster; however, the presence of stars with ages of similar to 10 Myr within 300 pc of the ULX means that it is possible that this is just an accidental projection.