Swift J1727.8-1613 has the Largest Resolved Continuous Jet Ever Seen in an X-ray Binary

Abstract

Multi-wavelength polarimetry and radio observations of Swift J1727.8-1613 at the beginning of its recent 2023 outburst suggested the presence of a bright compact jet aligned in the north-south direction, which could not be confirmed without high angular resolution images. Using the Very Long Baseline Array and the Long Baseline Array, we imaged Swift J1727.8-1613, during the hard/hard-intermediate state, revealing a bright core and a large, two-sided, asymmetrical, resolved jet. The jet extends in the north-south direction, at a position angle of $-0.60\pm 0.07°$ East of North. At 8.4 GHz, the entire resolved jet structure is $\sim 110(d/2.7\text{kpc})/\sin i$ AU long, with the southern approaching jet extending $\sim 80(d/2.7\text{kpc})/\sin i$ AU from the core, where $d$ is the distance to the source and $i$ is the inclination of the jet axis to the line of sight. These images reveal the most resolved continuous X-ray binary jet, and possibly the most physically extended continuous X-ray binary jet ever observed. Based on the brightness ratio of the approaching and receding jets, we put a lower limit on the intrinsic jet speed of $\beta \ge 0.27$ and an upper limit on the jet inclination of $i\le 74°$. In our first observation we also detected a rapidly fading discrete jet knot $66.89\pm 0.04$ mas south of the core, with a proper motion of $0.66\pm 0.05$ mas hour${}^{-1}$, which we interpret as the result of a downstream internal shock or a jet-ISM interaction, as opposed to a transient relativistic jet launched at the beginning of the outburst.

Accepted in ApJL

References in corpus (25)

• Array Programming with NumPy
• The Astropy Project: Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package
• Trigonometric Parallaxes of Massive Star Forming Regions: VI. Galactic Structure, Fundamental Parameters and Non-Circular Motions
• DiFX: A software correlator for very long baseline interferometry using multi-processor computing environments
• CMasher: Scientific colormaps for making accessible, informative and 'cmashing' plots
• The third realization of the International Celestial Reference Frame by very long baseline interferometry
• Cygnus X-1 contains a 21-solar mass black hole -- implications for massive star winds
• An extremely powerful long-lived superluminal ejection from the black hole MAXI J1820+070
• Astrometric accuracy of phase-referenced observations with the VLBA and EVN
• A rapidly-changing jet orientation in the stellar-mass black hole V404 Cygni
• The spectral energy distribution of compact jets powered by internal shocks
• A rapid change in X-ray variability and a jet ejection in the black hole transient MAXI J1820+070
• Measuring fundamental jet properties with multi-wavelength fast timing of the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070
• Radio monitoring of the hard state jets in the 2011 outburst of MAXI J1836-194
• Relativistic X-ray jets from the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070
• The Varying Kinematics of Multiple Ejecta from the Black Hole X-ray Binary MAXI J1820+070
• Radio Frequency Timing Analysis of the Compact Jet in the Black Hole X-ray Binary Cygnus X-1
• Rapid compact jet quenching in the Galactic black hole candidate X-ray binary MAXI J1535-571
• Modeling the kinematics of the decelerating jets from the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1348$-$630
• Evolving Morphology of the Large-Scale Relativistic Jets from XTE J1550-564
• Chasing the break: Tracing the full evolution of a black hole X-ray binary jet with multi-wavelength spectral modeling
• Conversion of New Zealand's 30m Telecommunication Antenna into a Radio Telescope
• MAXI J1848-015: The First Detection of Relativistically Moving Outflows from a Globular Cluster X-ray Binary
• Time-dependent visibility modelling of a relativistic jet in the X-ray binary MAXI J1803-298
• Evidence for a black hole spin--orbit misalignment in the X-ray binary Cyg X-1

Cited by in corpus (14)

• Dynamical confirmation of a black hole in the X-ray transient Swift J1727.8-1613
• X-ray polarization from accretion disk winds
• Timing analysis of the black-hole candidate Swift J1727.8-1613: detection of a dip-like feature in the high-energy cross spectrum
• Comprehensive Radio Monitoring of the Black Hole X-ray Binary Swift J1727.8$-$1613 during its 2023$-$2024 Outburst
• Evolution of the Comptonizing medium of the black-hole candidate Swift J1727.8$-$1613 along the hard to hard-intermediate state transition using NICER
• Detection of QPO Soft Lag during Outburst of Swift J1727.8-1613: Estimation of Instrinsic Parameters from Spectral Study
• The Accretion-Ejection Connection in the Black Hole X-ray Binary MAXI J1820$+$070
• Black-hole X-ray binary Swift J1727.8$-$1613 shows simultaneous Type-B and Type-C quasi-periodic oscillations across the hard-intermediate and soft-intermediate states
• A possible jet and corona configuration for Swift J1727.8--1613 during the hard state
• Ubiquitous yet forgotten: broad absorptions in the optical spectra of low-mass X-ray binaries
• An Ejection Event Captured by VLBI During the Outburst of Swift J1727.8$-$1613
• Search for the Highest-energy Quasiperiodic Oscillation in the Black Hole X-Ray Binary Candidate Swift J1727.8-1613
• Characteristics of the High-frequency Humps in the Black hole X-ray Binary Swift J1727.8--1613
• Optical polarimetry of the accreting black hole X-ray binary Swift J1727.8$-$1613 over the state transition and radio ejections