The innermost jet in the hidden ultra-luminous X-ray source Cygnus X-3
The innermost jet in the hidden ultra-luminous X-ray source Cygnus X-3
Cygnus X-3 is a high-mass X-ray binary with a compact object accreting matter from a Wolf-Rayet donor star. Recently, it has been revealed by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) as a hidden Galactic ultra-luminous X-ray (ULX) source with a luminosity above the Eddington limit, along the direction of a narrow (opening angle) funnel. In between the IXPE observations, we observed Cyg X-3 with the European very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) Network at 22 GHz and the NICER X-ray instrument. To probe possible relations between the X-ray funnel and the potential radio jet from the ULX, we analysed the simultaneous multiwavelength data. Our high-resolution VLBI image reveals an elongated structure with a position angle of -3.2 ± 0.4 °, accurately perpendicular to the direction of the linear X-ray polarization. Because Cyg X-3 was in the radio quiescent state on 2022 November 10, we identify the mas-scale structure as the innermost radio jet. The finding indicates that the radio jet propagates along and within the funnel. Moreover, the jet is marginally resolved in the transverse direction. This possibly results from the strong stellar winds and the rapid orbital motion of the binary system.
astro-ph.HE, astro-ph.SR, stars: jets, radio continuum: stars, stars: individual: Cygnus X-3, X-rays: binaries
L1-L7
Yang, Jun
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García, Federico
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Palacio, Santiago del
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Spencer, Ralph
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Paragi, Zsolt
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Segura, Noel Castro
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Gong, Biping
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Cao, Hongmin
21efbe72-e021-41cd-b6de-a924925db22e
Chen, Wen
d2450c3e-77d1-4c97-af59-3704a13b13f9
1 November 2023
Yang, Jun
47673b30-c7b5-4342-a34f-9f506c1804a3
García, Federico
7c0fed66-dda4-4333-b38c-175f570820ce
Palacio, Santiago del
fe69b654-d818-415a-94d9-8138a66f621f
Spencer, Ralph
e674c817-9b9d-454b-adda-542affcc390f
Paragi, Zsolt
7edf9405-6874-458a-9d70-c1b5d2ebc1c1
Segura, Noel Castro
26dfa223-df20-4ae1-98cc-7900dfe49fa3
Gong, Biping
c41210cb-a3c9-416a-8741-928816043c61
Cao, Hongmin
21efbe72-e021-41cd-b6de-a924925db22e
Chen, Wen
d2450c3e-77d1-4c97-af59-3704a13b13f9
Yang, Jun, García, Federico, Palacio, Santiago del, Spencer, Ralph, Paragi, Zsolt, Segura, Noel Castro, Gong, Biping, Cao, Hongmin and Chen, Wen
(2023)
The innermost jet in the hidden ultra-luminous X-ray source Cygnus X-3.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 526 (1), .
(doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slad111).
Abstract
Cygnus X-3 is a high-mass X-ray binary with a compact object accreting matter from a Wolf-Rayet donor star. Recently, it has been revealed by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) as a hidden Galactic ultra-luminous X-ray (ULX) source with a luminosity above the Eddington limit, along the direction of a narrow (opening angle) funnel. In between the IXPE observations, we observed Cyg X-3 with the European very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) Network at 22 GHz and the NICER X-ray instrument. To probe possible relations between the X-ray funnel and the potential radio jet from the ULX, we analysed the simultaneous multiwavelength data. Our high-resolution VLBI image reveals an elongated structure with a position angle of -3.2 ± 0.4 °, accurately perpendicular to the direction of the linear X-ray polarization. Because Cyg X-3 was in the radio quiescent state on 2022 November 10, we identify the mas-scale structure as the innermost radio jet. The finding indicates that the radio jet propagates along and within the funnel. Moreover, the jet is marginally resolved in the transverse direction. This possibly results from the strong stellar winds and the rapid orbital motion of the binary system.
Text
2308.01002v1
- Author's Original
UNSPECIFIED
slad111
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 31 July 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 3 August 2023
Published date: 1 November 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The EVN is a joint facility of independent European, African, Asian, and North American radio astronomy institutes. Scientific results from data presented in this publication are derived from the following EVN project code: RSY09. This research is based on observations with NICER (NASA). We thank the NICER PI and team for promptly approving and scheduling our ToO observations as a DDT. This research has made use of NASA’s Astrophysics Data System Bibliographic Services. FG is a CONICET researcher and acknowledges support from PIP 0113 and PIBAA 1275 (CONICET). WC acknowledges support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under grant no. 11903079. HC acknowledges support from the Hebei Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. A2022408002), and the NSFC (grant no. U2031116).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.
Keywords:
astro-ph.HE, astro-ph.SR, stars: jets, radio continuum: stars, stars: individual: Cygnus X-3, X-rays: binaries
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 481589
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/481589
ISSN: 1745-3925
PURE UUID: 094a6f5a-fcc0-4144-be4b-476db982ed90
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Date deposited: 04 Sep 2023 16:46
Last modified: 09 Apr 2024 21:52
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Contributors
Author:
Jun Yang
Author:
Federico García
Author:
Santiago del Palacio
Author:
Ralph Spencer
Author:
Zsolt Paragi
Author:
Noel Castro Segura
Author:
Biping Gong
Author:
Hongmin Cao
Author:
Wen Chen
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