Autori: P. H. Sell, S. Heinz, D. E. Calvelo, V. Tudose, P. Soleri, R. P. Fender, P. G. Jonker, N. S. Schulz, W. N. Brandt, M. A. Nowak, R. Wijnands, M. van der Klis, P. Casella

Editorial: Astrophysical Journal, 719, p.L194, 2010.

Rezumat:

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 x 10^35 erg s^-1 < P_jet < 2 x 10^37 erg s^-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.

Cuvinte cheie: ISM: jets and outflows, X-rays: binaries, X-rays: individual (Circinus X-1)

URL: http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/719/2/L194