The Chandra and RXTE study of the galactic microquasar SS 433 and the surrounding nebula W50
Abstract
The X-ray binary system SS 433/W50 has baffled astrophysicists since its discovery in 1979. W50 has been classified as a Galactic supernova, remnant that harbors SS 433, an X-ray binary consisting of a compact object accreting matter from a companion star at a super-Eddington rate. The nature of the compact object is still under debate, but it is expelling relativistic jets that interact with W50, causing it to elongate along the jets axis and forming two X-ray lobes. This system has been studied in depth using Chandra (Moldowan et al., 2005), ROSAT and ASCA (SafiHarb & Ogelman 1997), RXTE (Safi-Harb & Petre 1999, Safi-Harb & Kotani 2002, 2003), and at millimeter wavelengths (Durouchoux et al. 2000).
A 75 ksec Chandra observation of the western lobe of W50 is presented in this thesis. This region is of particular interest because it is rich with knots resulting from the interaction of a relativistic jet with a dense medium. The Chandra data provide the highest resolution X-ray image obtained to date. The spectroscopic results of this observation are presented and are targeted to (1) determine the nature of the X-ray emission and (2) correlate the X-ray emission with previous observations in the infrared and radio domains. It has been confirmed that at the site of interaction between the western jet and the interstellar gas the emission is non-thermal in nature. The helical pattern seen in radio is also observed with Chandra . No correlation was found between the X-ray and infrared emission. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)- Publication:
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Masters Thesis
- Pub Date:
- 2005
- Bibcode:
- 2005MsT..........3M
- Keywords:
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- Astronomy, Astrophysics