NuSTAR reveals the hidden nature of SS433
NuSTAR reveals the hidden nature of SS433
SS433 is the only Galactic binary system known to persistently accrete at highly super-critical (or hyper-critical) rates, similar to those in tidal disruption events, and likely needed to explain the rapid growth of those very high redshift quasars containing massive SMBHs. Probing the inner regions of SS433 in the X-rays is crucial to understanding this system, and super-critical accretion in general, but is highly challenging due to obscuration by the surrounding wind, driven from the accretion flow. NuSTAR observed SS433 in the hard X-ray band across multiple phases of its 162 day super-orbital precession period. Spectraltiming tools allow us to infer that the hard X-ray emission from the inner regions is likely being scattered towards us by the walls of the wind-cone. By comparing to numerical models, we determine an intrinsic X-ray luminosity of ≥ 2×1037 erg/s and that, if viewed face on, we would infer an apparent luminosity of > 1×1039 erg/s, confirming SS433’s long-suspected nature as an ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX). We present the discovery of a narrow, ∼ 100 s lag due to atomic processes occurring in outflowing material travelling at least 0.14-0.29c, which matches absorption lines seen in ULXs and – in the future – will allow us to map a super-critical outflow for the first time.
Middleton, M.J.
0a0ea3b7-0346-4838-8a2e-b71cd5836ae2
Walton, D.J.
5a666868-e3a5-4703-94a5-6622688ed3ad
Alston, W.
fda7e0d8-ee03-4134-8d86-926fa34b283a
Dauser, T.
e14de518-51e7-4be6-943a-65ad8a6f470f
Eikenberry, S.
0967ae4a-3532-4e1f-b2ec-c292b44fa641
Jiang, Y-F.
c2fc2bc7-6e70-46ac-a5e0-920141905bed
Fabian, A.C.
0c353376-f159-4129-b03e-d3993c0c5406
Fuerst, F.
23883016-d1d1-4150-96c1-58b97d4c5160
Brightman, M.
858d2a74-6dd4-4bcf-986d-8b8b8468af76
Marshall, H.
a588a7f0-8fe8-47e1-a3dd-6f29f580945d
Parker, M.
e227962e-bb4d-4ae5-831a-b77a94c399ef
Pinto, C.
2d190692-a127-48fa-8c94-055e9017974d
Harrison, F.A.
4fd1caff-e252-4e9e-8856-cc4ef07e2ba4
Bachetti, M.
06751b0e-e29a-44ae-b3d4-e9d70350ebcd
Altamirano, Diego
d5ccdb09-0b71-4303-9538-05b467be075b
Bird, Antony
045ee141-4720-46fd-a412-5aa848a91b32
Perez, Gilad
7c7fabc9-234d-463e-81c2-4dcc6b6e726d
Miller-Jones, J.
c15e06aa-9f00-4349-bc58-dfd223348223
Charles, P.
272344da-286f-441e-b3b7-e78ee096a133
Boggs, S.
717507db-fcf8-47b2-81f8-7c726d690acc
Christensen, Finn
8fe946d1-6750-4596-8d6e-adf84fff1ead
Craig, W.
10eab2a0-015a-40d3-964c-fb51ff4dccf6
Forster, K.
4586f9f4-ecee-4fbe-8bfa-526ab1d2f3a5
Grefenstette, B.
a0a616bc-d751-4cbd-b54d-6b927b6a4fc4
Hailey, C.
0f4deb10-841e-4473-ba1d-f264987b6612
Madsen, K.
e4ff17f7-d926-4490-a4ac-05b89dcfacb6
Stern, D.
2f1769e6-3fcb-4483-9f58-f182ba6d9f60
Zhang, W.
fda1d5e6-00c7-4c09-9e1b-ca2000dd5800
Middleton, M.J.
0a0ea3b7-0346-4838-8a2e-b71cd5836ae2
Walton, D.J.
5a666868-e3a5-4703-94a5-6622688ed3ad
Alston, W.
fda7e0d8-ee03-4134-8d86-926fa34b283a
Dauser, T.
e14de518-51e7-4be6-943a-65ad8a6f470f
Eikenberry, S.
0967ae4a-3532-4e1f-b2ec-c292b44fa641
Jiang, Y-F.
c2fc2bc7-6e70-46ac-a5e0-920141905bed
Fabian, A.C.
0c353376-f159-4129-b03e-d3993c0c5406
Fuerst, F.
23883016-d1d1-4150-96c1-58b97d4c5160
Brightman, M.
858d2a74-6dd4-4bcf-986d-8b8b8468af76
Marshall, H.
a588a7f0-8fe8-47e1-a3dd-6f29f580945d
Parker, M.
e227962e-bb4d-4ae5-831a-b77a94c399ef
Pinto, C.
2d190692-a127-48fa-8c94-055e9017974d
Harrison, F.A.
4fd1caff-e252-4e9e-8856-cc4ef07e2ba4
Bachetti, M.
06751b0e-e29a-44ae-b3d4-e9d70350ebcd
Altamirano, Diego
d5ccdb09-0b71-4303-9538-05b467be075b
Bird, Antony
045ee141-4720-46fd-a412-5aa848a91b32
Perez, Gilad
7c7fabc9-234d-463e-81c2-4dcc6b6e726d
Miller-Jones, J.
c15e06aa-9f00-4349-bc58-dfd223348223
Charles, P.
272344da-286f-441e-b3b7-e78ee096a133
Boggs, S.
717507db-fcf8-47b2-81f8-7c726d690acc
Christensen, Finn
8fe946d1-6750-4596-8d6e-adf84fff1ead
Craig, W.
10eab2a0-015a-40d3-964c-fb51ff4dccf6
Forster, K.
4586f9f4-ecee-4fbe-8bfa-526ab1d2f3a5
Grefenstette, B.
a0a616bc-d751-4cbd-b54d-6b927b6a4fc4
Hailey, C.
0f4deb10-841e-4473-ba1d-f264987b6612
Madsen, K.
e4ff17f7-d926-4490-a4ac-05b89dcfacb6
Stern, D.
2f1769e6-3fcb-4483-9f58-f182ba6d9f60
Zhang, W.
fda1d5e6-00c7-4c09-9e1b-ca2000dd5800