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arxiv: 1008.0647 · v1 · submitted 2010-08-03 · 🌌 astro-ph.HE

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Parsec-Scale Bipolar X-ray Shocks Produced by Powerful Jets from the Neutron Star Circinus X-1

P. H. Sell (1) , S. Heinz (1) , D. E. Calvelo (2) , V. Tudose (3 , 4 , 5) , P. Soleri (6) , R. P. Fender (2)
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P. G. Jonker (7 8 9) N. S. Schulz (10) W. N. Brandt (11) M. A. Nowak (10) R. Wijnands (12) M. van der Klis (12) P. Casella (2) ((1) Department of Astronomy University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison WI USA (2) School of Physics Astronomy University of Southampton Southampton UK (3) Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy Dwingeloo The Netherlands (4) Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy Bucharest Romania (5) Research Center for Atomic Physics Astrophysics (6) Kapteyn Astronomical Institute University of Groningen Groningen (7) SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research Utrecht (8) Department of Astrophysics IMAPP Radboud University Nijmegen Nijmegen (9) Harvard--Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge MA (10) Kavli Institute for Astrophysics Space Research Massachusetts Institute of Technology (11) Department of Astronomy The Pennsylvania State University University Park PA (12) Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek University of Amsterdam Amsterdam the Netherlands)
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classification 🌌 astro-ph.HE
keywords jetsx-raycircinusemissionradiobipolarneutronopening
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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 approximately 1600 yr. This allows us to constrain the jet power to be between 3e35 erg/s and 2e37 erg/s, 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.

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