A highly polarised radio jet during the 1998 outburst of the black hole transient XTE J1748-288

TL;DR

This paper reports on the 1998 outburst of the black hole transient XTE J1748-288, highlighting its unusually high radio flux and significant linear polarisation, and discusses the implications for jet and core behaviour.

Contribution

It presents detailed radio polarisation observations of XTE J1748-288 during outburst, revealing high flux and polarisation variability linked to jet dynamics.

Findings

Radio flux exceeded 600 mJy during outburst

Fractional linear polarisation was over 20% and varied inversely with flux

Depolarisation mechanisms were discussed in relation to jet behaviour

Abstract

XTE J1748-288 is a black hole X-ray transient which went into outburst in 1998 June. The X-ray lightcurves showed canonical morphologies, with minor variations on the ``Fast Rise Exponential Decay'' profile. The radio source, however, reached an unusually high flux density of over 600 mJy. This high radio flux was accompanied by an exceptional (>20%) fractional linear polarisation, the variability of which was anti-correlated with the flux density. We use this variability to discuss possible depolarisation mechanisms and to predict the underlying behaviour of the (unresolved) core/jet components.