Ultra-high-energy gamma-ray bubble around microquasar V4641 Sgr

Alfaro R, Alvarez C, Arteaga-Velázquez JC, Avila Rojas D, Ayala Solares HA, Babu R, Belmont-Moreno E, Caballero-Mora KS, Capistrán T, Carramiñana A, Casanova S, Cotti U, Cotzomi J, Coutiño de León S, De la Fuente E, Depaoli D, Di Lalla N, Diaz Hernandez R, Dingus BL, DuVernois MA, Durocher M, Díaz-Vélez JC, Engel K, Espinoza C, Fan KL, Fang K, Fraija N, Fraija S, García-González JA, Garfias F, Gonzalez Muñoz A, González MM, Goodman JA, Groetsch S, Harding JP, Herzog I, Hinton J, Huang D, Hueyotl-Zahuantitla F, Hüntemeyer P, Iriarte A, Joshi V, Kaufmann S, Kieda D, de León C, Lee J, León Vargas H, Linnemann JT, Longinotti AL, Luis-Raya G, Malone K, Martinez O, Martínez-Castro J, Matthews JA, Miranda-Romagnoli P, Morales-Soto JA, Moreno E, Mostafá M, Nayerhoda A, Nellen L, Newbold M, Nisa MU, Noriega-Papaqui R, Olivera-Nieto L, Omodei N, Osorio M, Pérez Araujo Y, Pérez-Pérez EG, Rho CD, Rosa-González D, Ruiz-Velasco E, Salazar H, Salazar-Gallegos D, Sandoval A, Schneider M, Serna-Franco J, Smith AJ, Son Y, Springer RW, Tibolla O, Tollefson K, Torres I, Torres-Escobedo R, Turner R, Ureña-Mena F, Varela E, Villaseñor L, Wang X, Watson IJ, Willox E, Yun-Cárcamo S, Zhou H (2024)


Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2024

Journal

Book Volume: 634

Pages Range: 557-560

Journal Issue: 8034

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07995-9

Abstract

Microquasars are laboratories for the study of jets of relativistic particles produced by accretion onto a spinning black hole. Microquasars are near enough to allow detailed imaging of spatial features across the multiwavelength spectrum. The recent extension measurement of the spatial morphology of a microquasar, SS 433, to TeV gamma rays1 localizes the acceleration of electrons at shocks in the jet far from the black hole2. V4641 Sagittarii (V4641 Sgr) is a similar binary system with a black hole and B-type main-sequence companion star and has an orbit period of 2.8 days (refs. 3,4). It stands out for its super-Eddington accretion5 and for its radio jet, which is one of the fastest superluminal jets in the Milky Way. Previous observations of V4641 Sgr did not report gamma-ray emission6. Here we report TeV gamma-ray emission from V4641 Sgr that reveals particle acceleration at similar distances from the black hole as SS 433. Furthermore, the gamma-ray spectrum of V4641 Sgr is among the hardest TeV spectra observed from any known gamma-ray source and is detected above 200 TeV. Gamma rays are produced by particles, either electrons or protons, of higher energies. Because energetic electrons lose energy more quickly the higher their energy, such a spectrum either very strongly constrains the electron-production mechanism or points to the acceleration of high-energy protons. This suggests that large-scale jets from microquasars could be more common than previously expected and that they could be a notable source of galactic cosmic rays7–9.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

National Autonomous University of Mexico / Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) MX Mexico (MX) Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas (UNACH) MX Mexico (MX) National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics / Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE) MX Mexico (MX) Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences / Instytut Fizyki Jądrowej im. Henryka Niewodniczańskiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk PL Poland (PL) Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (UMSNH) MX Mexico (MX) Los Alamos National Laboratory US United States (USA) (US) University of Wisconsin - Madison US United States (USA) (US) Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) / Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla MX Mexico (MX) University of Maryland US United States (USA) (US) Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) US United States (USA) (US) Michigan Technological University US United States (USA) (US) Universidad de Guadalajara (UDEG) MX Mexico (MX) Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK) / Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics DE Germany (DE) Stanford University US United States (USA) (US) Michigan State University US United States (USA) (US) Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) MX Mexico (MX) University of Seoul (UOS) / 서울시립대학교 KR Korea, Republic of (KR) University of Utah US United States (USA) (US) Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca (UPP) MX Mexico (MX) Shanghai Jiao Tong University / 上海交通大学 CN China (CN) National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico / Instituto Politécnico Nacional de México MX Mexico (MX) University of New Mexico (UNM) / Universidad de Nuevo México US United States (USA) (US) Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo / Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo MX Mexico (MX) Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) KR Korea, Republic of (KR)

How to cite

APA:

Alfaro, R., Alvarez, C., Arteaga-Velázquez, J.C., Avila Rojas, D., Ayala Solares, H.A., Babu, R.,... Zhou, H. (2024). Ultra-high-energy gamma-ray bubble around microquasar V4641 Sgr. Nature, 634(8034), 557-560. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07995-9

MLA:

Alfaro, R., et al. "Ultra-high-energy gamma-ray bubble around microquasar V4641 Sgr." Nature 634.8034 (2024): 557-560.

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