Swift J1727.8–1613 Has the Largest Resolved Continuous Jet Ever Seen in an X-Ray Binary

Autor: Callan M. Wood, James C. A. Miller-Jones, Arash Bahramian, Steven J. Tingay, Steve Prabu, Thomas D. Russell, Pikky Atri, Francesco Carotenuto, Diego Altamirano, Sara E. Motta, Lucas Hyland, Cormac Reynolds, Stuart Weston, Rob Fender, Elmar Körding, Dipankar Maitra, Sera Markoff, Simone Migliari, David M. Russell, Craig L. Sarazin, Gregory R. Sivakoff, Roberto Soria, Alexandra J. Tetarenko, Valeriu Tudose
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol 971, Iss 1, p L9 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2041-8213
2041-8205
DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad6572
Popis: Multiwavelength polarimetry and radio observations of Swift J1727.8–1613 at the beginning of its recent 2023 outburst suggested the presence of a bright compact jet aligned in the north–south direction, which could not be confirmed without high-angular-resolution images. Using the Very Long Baseline Array and the Long Baseline Array, we imaged Swift J1727.8–1613 during the hard/hard-intermediate state, revealing a bright core and a large, two-sided, asymmetrical, resolved jet. The jet extends in the north–south direction, at a position angle of −0.60° ± 0.07° east of north. At 8.4 GHz, the entire resolved jet structure is $\sim 110(d/2.7\,\mathrm{kpc})/\sin i$ au long, with the southern approaching jet extending $\sim 80(d/2.7\,\mathrm{kpc})/\sin i$ au from the core, where d is the distance to the source and i is the inclination of the jet axis to the line of sight. These images reveal the most resolved continuous X-ray binary jet, and possibly the most physically extended continuous X-ray binary jet ever observed. Based on the brightness ratio of the approaching and receding jets, we put a lower limit on the intrinsic jet speed of β ≥ 0.27 and an upper limit on the jet inclination of i ≤ 74°. In our first observation we also detected a rapidly fading discrete jet knot 66.89 ± 0.04 mas south of the core, with a proper motion of 0.66 ± 0.05 mas hr ^−1 , which we interpret as the result of a downstream internal shock or a jet–interstellar medium interaction, as opposed to a transient relativistic jet launched at the beginning of the outburst.
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