The symbiotic star CH Cygni. III. A precessing radio jet

Abstract

VLA, MERLIN and Hubble Space Telescope imaging observations of the extended regions of the symbiotic system CH Cygni are analysed. These extensions are evidence of a strong collimation mechanism, probably an accretion disk surrounding the hot component of the system. Over 16 years (between 1985 and 2001) the general trend is that these jets are seen to precess. Fitting a simple ballistic model of matter ejection to the geometry of the extended regions suggests a period of 6520 +/- 150 days, with a precession cone opening angle of 35 +/- 1 degrees. This period is of the same order as that proposed for the orbital period of the outer giant in the system, suggesting a possible link between the two. Anomalous knots in the emission, not explained by the simple model, are believed to be the result of older, slower moving ejecta, or possibly jet material that has become disrupted through sideways interaction with the surrounding medium.

9 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (3)

• The symbiotic star CH Cygni. I. Non-thermal bipolar jets
• The large-scale ionised outflow of CH Cygni
• The inner nebula and central binary of the symbiotic star HM Sge

Cited by in corpus (21)

• A Radio Study of the Seyfert galaxy Markarian 6: Implications for Seyfert life-cycles
• The Nature of the Hard-X-Ray Emitting Symbiotic Star RT Cru
• SPHERE / ZIMPOL observations of the symbiotic system R Aqr. I. Imaging of the stellar binary and the innermost jet clouds
• CH Cyg X-ray Jet Activity and Multi-component Structures
• An X-Ray Jet from a White Dwarf - Detection of the Collimated Outflow from CH Cygni with Chandra
• Broad H-alpha wings from the optically thin stellar wind of the hot components in symbiotic binaries
• A morpho-kinematic and spectroscopic study of the bipolar nebulae: M 2-9, Mz 3, and Hen 2-104
• Infrared Spectroscopy of Symbiotic Stars. VII. Binary Orbit and Long Secondary Period Variability of CH Cygni
• Multiwavelength study of Cygnus A I. Precession and slow jet speeds from radio observations
• A Precessing Jet in the CH Cyg Symbiotic System
• Long-term simulation of MHD jet launching from an orbiting star-disk system
• Electron optical depths and temperatures of symbiotic nebulae from Thomson scattering
• Ionization structure of hot components in symbiotic binaries during active phases
• Hydrodynamical simulations of the jet in the symbiotic star MWC 560 I. Structure, emission and synthetic absorption line profiles
• Curved jet motion. I. Orbiting and precessing jets
• A Lack of Radio Emission from Neutron Star Low Mass X-ray Binaries
• Discovery of optical flickering from the symbiotic star EF Aquilae
• Bipolar jets growth and decline in Hen 3-1341: a direct link to fast wind and outburst evolution
• HST/WFPC2 snapshot imaging of symbiotic stars
• The physics of the MHD disk-jet transition in binary systems: jetted spiral walls launched from disk spiral arms
• First spatial resolution of the stellar components of the interacting binary CH Cygni