Shell-Shocked: The Interstellar Medium Near Cygnus X-1

Abstract

We conduct a detailed case-study of the interstellar shell near the high-mass X-ray binary, Cygnus X-1. We present new WIYN optical spectroscopic and Chandra X-ray observations of this region, which we compare with detailed MAPPINGS III shock models, to investigate the outflow powering the shell. Our analysis places improved, physically motivated constraints on the nature of the shockwave and the interstellar medium (ISM) it is plowing through. We find that the shock is traveling at less than a few hundred km/s through a low-density ISM (< 5 cm^-3). We calculate a robust, 3 sigma upper limit to the total, time-averaged power needed to drive the shockwave and inflate the bubble, < 2 x 10^38 erg/s. We then review possible origins of the shockwave. We find that a supernova origin to the shockwave is unlikely and that the black hole jet and/or O-star wind can both be central drivers of the shockwave. We conclude that the source of the Cygnus X-1 shockwave is far from solved.

16 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

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• Radio Frequency Timing Analysis of the Compact Jet in the Black Hole X-ray Binary Cygnus X-1
• Wind mass-loss rates of stripped stars inferred from Cygnus X-1
• Modeling the kinematics of the decelerating jets from the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1348$-$630
• Mapping Jet-ISM Interactions in X-ray Binaries with ALMA: A GRS 1915$+$105 Case Study
• Global Simulations of the Interaction of Microquasar Jets with a Stellar Wind in High-Mass X-ray Binaries
• Jet-ISM Interactions near the Microquasars GRS 1758-258 and 1E 1740.7-2942
• LMC X-1: A New Spectral Analysis of the O-star in the binary and surrounding nebula
• What are the Composition and Power of the Jet in Cyg X-1?
• Relativistic hydrodynamical simulations of the effects of the stellar wind and the orbit on high-mass microquasar jets