Relativistic X-ray jets from the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070

Journal article

The black hole MAXI J1820+070 was discovered during its 2018 outburst and was extensively monitored across the electromagnetic spectrum. Following the detection of relativistic radio jets, we obtained four Chandra X-ray observations taken between 2018 November and 2019 June, along with radio observations conducted with the Very Large Array and MeerKAT arrays. We report the discovery of X-ray sources associated with the radio jets moving at relativistic velocities with a possible deceleration at late times. The broadband spectra of the jets are consistent with synchrotron radiation from particles accelerated up to very high energies (>10 TeV) by shocks produced by the jets interacting with the interstellar medium. The minimal internal energy estimated from the X-ray observations for the jets is ~10^41 erg, significantly larger than the energy calculated from the radio flare alone, suggesting most of the energy is possibly not radiated at small scales but released through late-time interactions.

Authors: Espinasse, M; Corbel, S; Kaaret, P; Tremou, E; Migliori, G

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Astronomical Society
• Journal: Astrophysical Journal Letters
• Volume: 895
• Issue: 2
• Article number: L31
• Publication date: 2020-05-29
• Acceptance date: 2020-04-13
• DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab88b6
• EISSN: 2041-8213
• ISSN: 2041-8205
• Language: English
• Keywords: stellar mass black holes; X-ray binary stars; radio jets; relativistic jets; galactic radio sources; accretion; FFR