Towards a larger sample of radio jets from quiescent black hole X-ray binaries

Quiescent black hole X-ray binaries (X-ray luminosities ≲1034ergs−1⁠) are believed to be fed by hot accretion flows that launch compact, relativistic jets. However, due to their low luminosities, quiescent jets have been detected in the radio waveband from only five systems so far. Here, we present radio observations of two quiescent black hole X-ray binaries with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. One system, GS 1124-684, was not detected. The other system, BW Cir, was detected over two different epochs in 2018 and 2020, for which we also obtained quasi-simultaneous X-ray detections with Chandra and Swift. BW Cir is now the sixth quiescent X-ray binary with a confirmed radio jet. However, the distance to BW Cir is uncertain, and we find that BW Cir shows different behaviour in the radio/X-ray luminosity plane depending on the correct distance. Estimates based on its G-type subgiant donor star place BW Cir at >25 kpc, while initial optical astrometric measurements from Gaia Data Release 2 suggested likely distances of just a few kpc. Here, we use the most recent measurements from Gaia Early Data Release 3 and find a distance d=7.1+4.8−3.9 kpc and a potential kick velocity PKV = 165+81−17 km s−1, with distances up to ≈20 kpc possible based on its parallax and proper motion. Even though there is now less tension between the parallax and donor-star based distance measurements, it remains an unresolved matter, and we conclude with suggestions on how to reconcile the two measurements.

Stars: individual: BW Cir, Stars: individual: GS 1124-684, X-rays: binaries

10.1093/mnras/stab644

1365-2966

3784–3795

Plotkin, R. M.

754ef328-afa6-43d9-82f5-f4a9a476659f

Bahramian, A.

1f016b89-98b9-4fa9-8df0-9390fbb5eeda

Miller-Jones, J.C.A.

de372f09-251a-4a6c-93d9-a30ec089473f

Reynolds, M. T.

51af37fe-f36e-4ecd-8324-910283c17c43

Atri, P.

223b9a4b-3c3c-4569-a25f-a9389f3d28e3

Maccarone, T.J.

5d8ee27f-a174-424c-b3b7-a6739bfeea50

Shaw, A. W.

b19a61bb-f886-4aa7-9bec-8e4d8b6c488d

Gandhi, Poshak

5bc3b5af-42b0-4dd8-8f1f-f74048d4d4a9

1 May 2021

Plotkin, R. M.

754ef328-afa6-43d9-82f5-f4a9a476659f

Bahramian, A.

1f016b89-98b9-4fa9-8df0-9390fbb5eeda

Miller-Jones, J.C.A.

de372f09-251a-4a6c-93d9-a30ec089473f

Reynolds, M. T.

51af37fe-f36e-4ecd-8324-910283c17c43

Atri, P.

223b9a4b-3c3c-4569-a25f-a9389f3d28e3

Maccarone, T.J.

5d8ee27f-a174-424c-b3b7-a6739bfeea50

Shaw, A. W.

b19a61bb-f886-4aa7-9bec-8e4d8b6c488d

Gandhi, Poshak

5bc3b5af-42b0-4dd8-8f1f-f74048d4d4a9

Plotkin, R. M., Bahramian, A., Miller-Jones, J.C.A., Reynolds, M. T., Atri, P., Maccarone, T.J., Shaw, A. W. and Gandhi, Poshak (2021) Towards a larger sample of radio jets from quiescent black hole X-ray binaries. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 503 (3), 3784–3795. (doi:10.1093/mnras/stab644).

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2103.02178 - Accepted Manuscript

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Accepted/In Press date: 1 March 2021

Published date: 1 May 2021

Additional Information: Funding Information: We thank the referee for helpful comments that improved this manuscript. We thank John Paice for collating measurements from the Gaia EDR3 archive. We are grateful to the Chandra X-ray Observatory and to the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory for granting our requests for Director's Discretionary Time. JCAM-J is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT140101082), funded by the Australian government. PG thanks STFC for support. The Australia Telescope Compact Array is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility which is funded by the Australian Government for operation as a National Facility managed by CSIRO. We acknowledge the Gomeroi people as the traditional owners of the Observatory site. The scientific results reported in this article are based in part on observations made by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and this research has made use of software provided by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) in the application package ciao. This work made use of data supplied by the UK Swift Science Data Centre at the University of Leicester. This research includes results provided by the ASM/RXTE teams at MIT and at the RXTE SOF and GOF at NASA's GSFC. This research has made use of data and software provided by the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), which is a service of the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA/GSFC. This work has made use of data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium). Funding for the DPAC has been provided by national institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia Multilateral Agreement. This research made use of ASTROPY,14 a community-developed core Python package for Astronomy (Astropy Collaboration 2013, 2018). Funding Information: the Gaia EDR3 archive. We are grateful to the Chandra X-ray Observatory and to the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory for granting our requests for Director’s Discretionary Time. JCAM-J is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT140101082), funded by the Australian government. PG thanks STFC for support. The Australia Telescope Compact Array is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility which is funded by the Australian Government for operation as a National Facility managed by CSIRO. We acknowledge the Gomeroi people as the traditional owners of the Observatory site. The scientific results reported in this article are based in part on observations made by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and this research has made use of software provided by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) in the application package ciao. This work made use of data supplied by the UK Swift Science Data Centre at the University of Leicester. This research includes results provided by the ASM/RXTE teams at MIT and at the RXTE SOF and GOF at NASA’s GSFC. This research has made use of data and software provided by the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), which is a service of the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA/GSFC. This work has made use of data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC, https: //www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium). Funding for the DPAC has been provided by national institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia Multilateral Agreement. This research made use of ASTROPY,14 a community-developed core Python package for Astronomy (Astropy Collaboration 2013, 2018). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)

Keywords: Stars: individual: BW Cir, Stars: individual: GS 1124-684, X-rays: binaries