Jet propulsion of wind ejecta from a major flare in the black hole microquasar SS433

TL;DR

This study provides direct imaging evidence of jets interacting with enhanced wind outflows in the microquasar SS433, revealing how flare-induced material is transported and shaped by jet activity, potentially explaining large-scale nebula structures.

Contribution

First direct near-infrared imaging evidence of jet-wind interaction in SS433, linking flare activity to large-scale nebula features and jet dynamics.

Findings

Jets interact with wind outflows during flares

Material is transported perpendicular to the accretion disc

Bow-tie structures may explain X-ray cones in W50 nebula

Abstract

We present direct evidence, from Adaptive-Optics near-infra-red imaging, of the jets in the Galactic microquasar SS433 interacting with enhanced wind-outflow off the accretion disc that surrounds the black hole in this system. Radiant quantities of gas are transported significant distances away from the black hole approximately perpendicular to the accretion disc from which the wind emanates. We suggest that the material that comprised the resulting "bow-tie" structure is associated with a major flare that the system exhibited ten months prior to the observations. During this flare, excess matter was expelled by the accretion disc as an enhanced wind, which in turn is "snow-ploughed", or propelled, out by the much faster jets that move at approximately a quarter of the speed of light. Successive instances of such bow-ties may be responsible for the large-scale X-ray cones observed across the W50 nebula by ROSAT.