Detection of a Radio Bubble around the Ultraluminous X-ray Source Holmberg IX X-1

Abstract

We present C and X-band radio observations of the famous utraluminous X-ray source (ULX) Holmberg IX X-1, previously discovered to be associated with an optical emission line nebula several hundred pc in extent. Our recent infrared study of the ULX suggested that a jet could be responsible for the infrared excess detected at the ULX position. The new radio observations, performed using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in B-configuration, reveal the presence of a radio counterpart to the nebula with a spectral slope of -0.56 similar to other ULXs. Importantly, we find no evidence for an unresolved radio source associated with the ULX itself, and we set an upper limit on any 5 GHz radio core emission of 6.6 $\mu$Jy ($4.1\times 10^{32}$ erg s${}^{-1}$). This is 20 times fainter than what we expect if the bubble is energized by a jet. If a jet exists its core component is unlikely to be responsible for the infrared excess unless it is variable. Strong winds which are expected in super-Eddington sources could also play an important role in inflating the radio bubble. We discuss possible interpretations of the radio/optical bubble and we prefer the jet+winds-blown bubble scenario similar to the microquasar SS 433.

Accepted by ApJ. This paper contains the first CATTERPLOT ever published in ApJ!

References in corpus (13)

• Super-critically accreting stellar-mass black holes as ultraluminous X-ray sources
• The Nature of SS433 and the Ultraluminous X-ray Sources
• Measuring the accretion rate and kinetic luminosity functions of supermassive black holes
• Spectroscopy of Optical Counterparts of Ultraluminous X-ray Sources
• Testing the Paradigm that Ultraluminous X-ray Sources as a Class Represent Accreting Intermediate-Mass Black Holes
• The large-scale jet-powered radio nebula of Circinus X-1
• HLX-1 may be an SS433 system
• A synchrotron superbubble in the IC 10 Galaxy: a hypernova remnant?
• The non-thermal superbubble in IC 10: the generation of cosmic ray electrons caught in the act
• Uncovering Red and Dusty Ultraluminous X-ray Sources with Spitzer
• Radio emission from shell-type supernova remnants
• Optical and X-ray luminosity of expanding nebulae around ultraluminous X-ray sources
• Spitzer IRAC observations of IR excess in Holmberg IX X-1: A circumbinary disk or a variable jet?

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Ultra-High-Energy Gamma-Ray Bubble around Microquasar V4641 Sgr
• MUSE spectroscopy of the ULX NGC 1313 X-1: a shock-ionised bubble, an X-ray photoionised nebula, and two supernova remnants
• The ultraluminous X-ray source bubble in NGC 5585
• Statistical study of a large and cleaned sample of ultraluminous and hyperluminous X-ray sources
• Continuous Jets and Backflow Models for the Formation of W50/SS433 in Magnetohydrodynamics Simulations
• A new sample of transient ultraluminous X-ray sources serendipitously discovered by Swift/XRT
• Multiwavelength Scrutiny of X-ray Sources in Dwarf Galaxies: ULXs versus AGN