JET TRAILS AND MACH CONES: THE INTERACTION OF MICROQUASARS WITH THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM

Journal Article · Sun Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/742/1/25; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)· OSTI ID:21612646

Yoon, D; Morsony, B; Heinz, S ^[1]; Wiersema, K ^[2]; Fender, R P ^[3]; Russell, D M ^[4]; Sunyaev, R ^[5]

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1. Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI (United States)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH (United Kingdom)
3. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, S017 1BJ (United Kingdom)
4. Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam (Netherlands)
5. Space Research Institute (IKI), Moscow (Russian Federation)

A subset of microquasars exhibits high peculiar velocity with respect to the local standard of rest due to the kicks they receive when being born in supernovae. The interaction between the radio plasma released by microquasar jets from such high-velocity binaries with the interstellar medium must lead to the production of trails and bow shocks similar to what is observed in narrow-angle tailed radio galaxies and pulsar wind nebulae. We present a set of numerical simulations of this interaction that illuminate the long-term dynamical evolution and the observational properties of these microquasar bow-shock nebulae and trails. We find that this interaction always produces a structure that consists of a bow shock, a trailing neck, and an expanding bubble. Using our simulations to model emission, we predict that the shock surrounding the bubble and the neck should be visible in H{sub {alpha}} emission, the interior of the bubble should be visible in synchrotron radio emission, and only the bow shock is likely to be detectable in X-ray emission. We construct an analytic model for the evolution of the neck and bubble shape and compare this model with observations of the X-ray binary SAX J1712.6-3739.

• OSTI ID: 21612646
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 742, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/742/1/25; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
BINARY STARS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
NEBULAE
PULSARS
RADIO GALAXIES
SHOCK WAVES
SMALL ANGLE SCATTERING
STAR EVOLUTION
SUPERNOVAE
VELOCITY
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
COHERENT SCATTERING
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
DIFFRACTION
ERUPTIVE VARIABLE STARS
EVOLUTION
GALAXIES
SCATTERING
SIMULATION
STARS
VARIABLE STARS