Shell-shocked: the interstellar medium near Cygnus X-1

Sell, Paul H.; Heinz, Sebastian; Richards, E. E.; Maccarone, Thomas J.; Russell, D. M.; Gallo, Elena; Fender, R. P.; Markoff, Sera; Nowak, Michael A.

doi:10.1093/mnras/stu2320

Cited by 27 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 96 publications

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“…These parameters correspond to the critical power of P cr ≃ 3 × 10 37 erg s −1 . This is within the estimated P j ≃ (1-7) × 10 37 erg s −1 (for the jet+counterjet) from the optical nebula presumably powered by the jet (Sell et al 2015; see also Gallo et al 2005;Russell et al 2007). Thus, a recollimation shock can occur in the hard-state jet of Cyg X-1.…”

Section: Jets In Cyg X-1 and Cyg X-3supporting

confidence: 82%

Formation of recollimation shocks in jets of high-mass X-ray binaries

Yoon

Zdziarski

Heinz

2016

Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc.

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We study conditions for formation of recollimation shocks in jets interacting with stellar winds in high-mass X-ray binaries. We show the existence of a critical jet power, dependent on the wind rate and velocity and the jet velocity, above which a recollimation shock is not formed. For jet powers below critical, we derive the location of the shock. We show that surface shocks may still exist above the critical power, but only occupy a small volume of the jet and do not significantly alter the jet opening angle. We test these prediction by 3-D numerical simulations, which confirm the existence and the value of the critical power. We apply our results to Cyg X-1 and Cyg X-3.

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Section: Jets In Cyg X-1 and Cyg X-3supporting

confidence: 82%

Formation of recollimation shocks in jets of high-mass X-ray binaries

Yoon

Zdziarski

Heinz

2016

Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc.

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“…This technique can also be applied to jet-ISM interaction sites near Galactic BHXBs in the cases where a jet-blown bubble or cavity is detected (e.g. Cyg X-1; Gallo et al 2005;Russell et al 2007;Sell et al 2015).…”

Section: Constraints On Jet Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cyg X-1 displays persistent, radio emitting jets (Stirling et al 2001) that are thought to be propagating through the tail end of a dense Hii region (Russell et al 2007;Sell et al 2015). Deep radio-frequency observations of the field surrounding Cyg X-1 revealed a shell-like structure ∼ 5 pc in diameter, aligned with the jet axis of Cyg X-1 (Gallo et al 2005).…”

Section: Comparison To Other Known Jet-ism Interaction Zonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gallo et al (2005) interpreted this shell as a jetblown bubble, containing thermal plasma, which formed as the result of a strong radiative shock created when the jet impacted the ISM. However, alternative explanations for the shell have been put forward, including a supernova remnant, and a shock wave driven by the strong stellar wind from the high mass companion star in Cyg X-1 (Sell et al 2015). Gallo et al (2005) inferred that the jets of Cyg X-1 would need to carry a time-averaged power of ∼ 9 × 10 35 − 10 37 erg s −1 , over a lifetime of ∼ 0.02 − 0.32 Myr, to create and maintain the jet-blown bubble structure in the surrounding medium.…”

Section: Comparison To Other Known Jet-ism Interaction Zonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, Gallo et al (2005) used the jet-blown bubble as a calorimeter to estimate the total time-averaged power in the Cygnus X-1 jets to be 9×10 35 ≤ P jet ≤ 10 37 erg s −1 , by modelling the shell emission from the radio nebula as radiatively shocked gas. Further work by Russell et al (2007) and Sell et al (2015) narrowed these estimates using a more tightly constrained shock velocity in the region. These works clearly demonstrate that such calculations are highly sensitive to the properties of the shock and ISM (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Mapping jet–ISM interactions in X-ray binaries with ALMA: a GRS 1915+105 case study

Tetarenko

Freeman

Rosolowsky

et al. 2017

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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We present Atacama Large Millimetre/Sub-Millimetre Array (ALMA) observations of IRAS 19132+1035, a candidate jet-ISM interaction zone near the black hole X-ray binary (BHXB) GRS 1915+105. With these ALMA observations (combining data from the 12 m array and the Atacama Compact Array), we map the molecular line emission across the IRAS 19132+1035 region. We detect emission from the 12 CO [Given the morphological, spectral, and kinematic properties of this molecular emission, we present several lines of evidence that support the presence of a jet-ISM interaction at this site, including a jet-blown cavity in the molecular gas. This compelling new evidence identifies this site as a jet-ISM interaction zone, making GRS 1915+105 the third Galactic BHXB with at least one conclusive jet-ISM interaction zone. However, we find that this interaction occurs on much smaller scales than was postulated by previous work, where the BHXB jet does not appear to be dominantly powering the entire IRAS 19132+1035 region. Using estimates of the ISM conditions in the region, we utilize the detected cavity as a calorimeter to estimate the time-averaged power carried in the GRS 1915+105 jets of (8.4 +7.7 −8.1 ) × 10 32 erg s −1 . Overall, our analysis demonstrates that molecular lines are excellent diagnostic tools to identify and probe jet-ISM interaction zones near Galactic BHXBs.

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Lepto-hadronic model for the broadband emission of Cygnus X-1

Pepe

Vila

Romero

2015

A&A

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Context. Cygnus X-1 is a well-observed microquasar. Broadband observations at all wavelengths have been collected over the years. The origin of the MeV tail observed with COMPTEL and INTEGRAL is still under debate and it has mostly been attributed to the corona, although its high degree of polarization suggests that it is synchrotron radiation from a jet. The origin of the transient emission above ∼100 GeV is also unclear. Aims. We aim to clarify the origin of the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) of Cygnus X-1, focusing particularly on the gamma-ray emission, and to gain information on the physical conditions inside the jets. Methods. We developed a lepto-hadronic, inhomogeneous jet model and applied it to the non-thermal SED of Cygnus X-1. We calculated the contributions to the SED of both protons and electrons accelerated in an extended region of the jet. We also estimated the radiation of charged secondaries produced in hadronic interactions through several radiative processes. Absorption effects were considered. We produced synthetic maps of the jets at radio wavelengths. Results. We find two sets of model parameters that lead to good fits of the SED. One of the models fits all the observations, including the MeV tail. This model also predicts hadronic gamma-ray emission slightly below the current upper limits. The flux predicted at 8.4 GHz is in agreement with the observations available in the literature, although the synthetic source is more compact than the imaged radio jet. Conclusions. Our results show that the MeV emission in Cygnus X-1 may be jet synchrotron radiation. This depends mainly on the strength of the jet magnetic field and the location of the injection region of the relativistic particles. Our calculations show that there must be energetic electrons in the jets quite far from the black hole.

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Shell-shocked: the interstellar medium near Cygnus X-1

Cited by 27 publications

References 96 publications

Formation of recollimation shocks in jets of high-mass X-ray binaries

Formation of recollimation shocks in jets of high-mass X-ray binaries

Mapping jet–ISM interactions in X-ray binaries with ALMA: a GRS 1915+105 case study

Lepto-hadronic model for the broadband emission of Cygnus X-1

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