PARSEC-SCALE BIPOLAR X-RAY SHOCKS PRODUCED BY POWERFUL JETS FROM THE NEUTRON STAR CIRCINUS X-1
Author(s)
Sell, P. H.; Heinz, Sebastian; Calvelo-Santos, D. E.; Tudose, V.; Soleri, P.; Fender, R. P.; Jonker, P. G.; Brandt, W. N.; Wijnands, R.; van der Klis, M.; Casella, P.; Schulz, Norbert S.; Nowak, Michael A.; ... Show more Show less
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We report the discovery of multi-scale X-ray jets from the accreting neutron star X-ray binary, Circinus X-1. The bipolar outflows show wide opening angles and are spatially coincident with the radio jets seen in new high-resolution radio images of the region. The morphology of the emission regions suggests that the jets from Circinus X-1 are running into a terminal shock with the interstellar medium, as is seen in powerful radio galaxies. This and other observations indicate that the jets have a wide opening angle, suggesting that the jets are either not very well collimated or precessing. We interpret the spectra from the shocks as cooled synchrotron emission and derive a cooling age of ~1600 yr. This allows us to constrain the jet power to be 3 × 10[superscript 35] erg s[superscript -1] ⋦ P jet ⋦ 2 × 10[superscript 37] erg s[superscript -1], making this one of a few microquasars with a direct measurement of its jet power and the only known microquasar that exhibits stationary large-scale X-ray emission.
Date issued
2010-08Department
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space ResearchJournal
Astrophysical Journal. Letters
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Citation
Sell, P. H., S. Heinz, D. E. Calvelo, V. Tudose, P. Soleri, R. P. Fender, P. G. Jonker, et al. “PARSEC-SCALE BIPOLAR X-RAY SHOCKS PRODUCED BY POWERFUL JETS FROM THE NEUTRON STAR CIRCINUS X-1.” The Astrophysical Journal 719, no. 2 (August 4, 2010): L194–L198. © 2010 The American Astronomical Society
Version: Final published version
ISSN
2041-8205
2041-8213