Pair annihilation and radio emission from galactic jet sources: the case of Nova Muscae
Pair annihilation and radio emission from galactic jet sources: the case of Nova Muscae
In the hard X-ray spectra of some X-ray binaries line features at around 500 keV are detected. We interpret these as arising from pair annihilation in relativistic outflows leading to a significant Doppler shift of the frequencies of the lines. We show how this can be used to accurately determine the bulk velocity and orientation to the line of sight of the outflows. Constraints on the energy requirements of such outflows are also derived. Furthermore, we show that a small fraction of pairs escaping the annihilation region may give rise to the radio synchrotron emission observed in some of these objects. We apply these ideas to the hard X-ray and radio observations of Nova Muscae 1991. In this object, the energy requirements seem to rule out a large proton fraction in the outflows.
line: formation, plasmas, radiation mechanisms: non-thermal, binaries: close, stars: individual: GRS (Nova Muscae), radio continuum: stars
225-231
Kaiser, Christian R.
28e00576-1e5b-47f1-b24c-fa10689717ab
Hannikainen, Diana C.
9fdc6347-ec65-403b-be33-9fa262330f09
2002
Kaiser, Christian R.
28e00576-1e5b-47f1-b24c-fa10689717ab
Hannikainen, Diana C.
9fdc6347-ec65-403b-be33-9fa262330f09
Kaiser, Christian R. and Hannikainen, Diana C.
(2002)
Pair annihilation and radio emission from galactic jet sources: the case of Nova Muscae.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 330 (1), .
Abstract
In the hard X-ray spectra of some X-ray binaries line features at around 500 keV are detected. We interpret these as arising from pair annihilation in relativistic outflows leading to a significant Doppler shift of the frequencies of the lines. We show how this can be used to accurately determine the bulk velocity and orientation to the line of sight of the outflows. Constraints on the energy requirements of such outflows are also derived. Furthermore, we show that a small fraction of pairs escaping the annihilation region may give rise to the radio synchrotron emission observed in some of these objects. We apply these ideas to the hard X-ray and radio observations of Nova Muscae 1991. In this object, the energy requirements seem to rule out a large proton fraction in the outflows.
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Published date: 2002
Keywords:
line: formation, plasmas, radiation mechanisms: non-thermal, binaries: close, stars: individual: GRS (Nova Muscae), radio continuum: stars
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 14777
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/14777
ISSN: 0035-8711
PURE UUID: 260869cb-618f-4f9a-bedf-f43620d3c7b8
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 28 Feb 2005
Last modified: 07 Jan 2022 22:00
Export record
Contributors
Author:
Christian R. Kaiser
Author:
Diana C. Hannikainen
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics