Bibcode
Gandhi, P.; Blain, A. W.; Russell, D. M.; Casella, P.; Malzac, J.; Corbel, S.; D'Avanzo, P.; Lewis, F. W.; Markoff, S.; Cadolle Bel, M.; Goldoni, P.; Wachter, S.; Khangulyan, D.; Mainzer, A.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 740, Issue 1, article id. L13 (2011).
Advertised on:
10
2011
Citations
143
Refereed citations
113
Description
Many X-ray binaries remain undetected in the mid-infrared, a regime
where emission from their compact jets is likely to dominate. Here, we
report the detection of the black hole binary GX 339-4 with the
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) during a very bright, hard
accretion state in 2010. Combined with a rich contemporaneous
multiwavelength data set, clear spectral curvature is found in the
infrared, associated with the peak flux density expected from the
compact jet. An optically thin slope of ~ -0.7 and a jet radiative
power of >6 × 1035 erg s-1 (d/8
kpc)2 are measured. A ~24 hr WISE light curve shows dramatic
variations in mid-infrared spectral slope on timescales at least as
short as the satellite orbital period ~95 minutes. There is also
significant change during one pair of observations spaced by only 11 s.
These variations imply that the spectral break associated with the
transition from self-absorbed to optically thin jet synchrotron
radiation must be varying across the full wavelength range of ~3-22
μm that WISE is sensitive to, and more. Based on four-band
simultaneous mid-infrared detections, the break is constrained to
frequencies of ≈4.6+3.5 - 2.0 ×
1013 Hz in at least two epochs of observation, consistent
with a magnetic field B ≈ 1.5(± 0.8) × 104 G
assuming a single-zone synchrotron emission region. The observed
variability implies that either B or the size of the acceleration zone
above the jet base is being modulated by factors of ~10 on relatively
short timescales.