AN EVOLVING COMPACT JET IN THE BLACK HOLE X-RAY BINARY MAXI J1836-194
- Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC), E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)
- International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845 (Australia)
- Department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom)
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta, CCIS 4-181, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1 (Canada)
- Faulkes Telescope Project, University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd CF37 1DL (United Kingdom)
- Astronomical Institute ''Anton Pannekoek'', University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 70 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
- NRAO Domenici Science Operations Center, 1003 Lopezville Road, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States)
- INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Via E. Bianchi 46, I-23807 Merate (Italy)
- European Space Agency, European Space Astronomy Centre, ISOC, Villanueva de la Canada, Madrid (Spain)
- INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via Frascati 33, I-00040 Monteporzio Catone, Roma (Italy)
- Laboratoire AIM, UMR 7158, CEA/DSM, CNRS, Universite Paris Diderot, IRFU/SAp, Gif-sur-Yvette (France)
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom)
We report striking changes in the broadband spectrum of the compact jet of the black hole transient MAXI J1836-194 over state transitions during its discovery outburst in 2011. A fading of the optical-infrared (IR) flux occurred as the source entered the hard-intermediate state, followed by a brightening as it returned to the hard state. The optical-IR spectrum was consistent with a power law from optically thin synchrotron emission, except when the X-ray spectrum was softest. By fitting the radio to optical spectra with a broken power law, we constrain the frequency and flux of the optically thick/thin break in the jet synchrotron spectrum. The break gradually shifted to higher frequencies as the source hardened at X-ray energies, from {approx}10{sup 11} to {approx}4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 13} Hz. The radiative jet luminosity integrated over the spectrum appeared to be greatest when the source entered the hard state during the outburst decay (although this is dependent on the high-energy cooling break, which is not seen directly), even though the radio flux was fading at the time. The physical process responsible for suppressing and reactivating the jet (neither of which are instantaneous but occur on timescales of weeks) is uncertain, but could arise from the varying inner accretion disk radius regulating the fraction of accreting matter that is channeled into the jet. This provides an unprecedented insight into the connection between inflow and outflow, and has implications for the conditions required for jets to be produced, and hence their launching process.
- OSTI ID:
- 22130665
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 768, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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