Multiwavelength Observations of the SS 433 JETS
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2013
Abstract
We present observations of the SS 433 jets using the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer with contemporaneous optical and Very Long Baseline Array observations. The X-ray and optical emission line regions are found to be related but not coincident as the optical line emission persists for days while the X-ray emission lines fade in less than 5000 s. The line Doppler shifts from the optical and X-ray lines match well, indicating that they are less than 3 x 10(14) cm apart. The jet Doppler shifts show aperiodic variations that could result from shocks in interactions with the local environment. These perturbations are consistent with a change in jet direction but not jet speed. The proper motions of the radio knots match the kinematic model only if the distance to SS 433 is 4.5 +/- 0.2 kpc. Observations during eclipse show that the occulted emission is very hard, seen only above 2 keV and rising to comprise >50% of the flux at 8 keV. The soft X-ray emission lines from the jet are not blocked, constraining the jet length to greater than or similar to 2 x 10(12) cm. The base jet density is in the range 10(10-13) cm(-3), in contrast to our previous estimate based on the Si XIII triplet, which is likely to have been affected by UV de-excitation. There is a clear overabundance of Ni by a factor of about 15 relative to the solar value, which may have resulted from an unusual supernova that formed the compact object.
Recommended Citation
Marshall, Herman L.; Canizares, Claude R.; Hillwig, Todd; Mioduszewski, Amy; Rupen, Michael; Schulz, Norbert S.; Nowak, Michael; and Heinz, Sebastian, "Multiwavelength Observations of the SS 433 JETS" (2013). Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications. 58.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/phys_astro_fac_pub/58
