Description: Heme oxygenase-1 derived carbon monoxide permits maturation of myeloid cells Cell Death and Disease 5, e1139 (March 2014). doi:10.1038/cddis.2014.97 Authors: B Wegiel, A Hedblom, M Li, D Gallo, E Csizmadia, C Harris, Z Nemeth, B S Zuckerbraun, M Soares, J L Persson & L E Otterbein

Description: The X-ray spectrum of the Galactic X-ray binary V4641 Sgr in outburst has been found to exhibit a remarkably broad emission feature above 4 keV, with inferred equivalent widths up to 2 keV. Such a feature was first detected during the X-ray flaring activity associated with the giant outburst that the source experienced in 1999 September. The extraordinarily large equivalent width line was then ascribed to reflection/reprocessing of fluorescent Fe emission within an extended optically thick outflow enshrouding the binary system as a result of a short-lived, super-Eddington accretion episode. Making use of new and archival X-ray observations, we show here that a similar feature persists over four orders of magnitude in luminosity, down to Eddington ratios as low as log ( L X / L Edd ) ~= –4.5, where the existence of an optically thick envelope appears at odds with any viable accretion flow model. Possible interpretations for this highly unusual X-ray spectrum include a blend of Doppler-shifted/boosted Fe lines from unresolved X-ray jets (a la SS433), or, the first Galactic analogue of a blazar spectrum, where the 〉4 keV emission would correspond to the onset of the inverse Compton hump. This either requires a low-inclination angle of the jet with respect to the line of sight, in agreement with the estimates for the 1999 superluminal jet ( i jet  〈 10°). The fast variability of the feature, combined with the high orbital axis inclination (60° 〈  i orb  〈 71°), argue for a rapidly precessing accretion flow around V4641 Sgr, possibly leading to a transient microblazar behaviour.

Description: We conduct a detailed case study of the interstellar shell near the high-mass X-ray binary, Cygnus X-1. We present new WIYN optical spectroscopic and Chandra X-ray observations of this region, which we compare with detailed mappings iii shock models, to investigate the outflow powering the shell. Our analysis places improved, physically motivated constraints on the nature of the shock wave and the interstellar medium (ISM) it is plowing through. We find that the shock is travelling at less than a few hundred km s –1 through a low-density ISM (〈5 cm –3 ). We calculate a robust, 3 upper limit to the total, time-averaged power needed to drive the shock wave and inflate the bubble, 〈2 10 38  erg s –1 . We then review possible origins of the shock wave. We find that a supernova origin to the shock wave is unlikely and that the black hole jet and/or O-star wind can both be central drivers of the shock wave. We conclude that the source of the Cygnus X-1 shock wave is far from solved.

Description: We report on deep, coordinated radio and X-ray observations of the black hole X-ray binary XTE J1118+480 in quiescence. The source was observed with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array for a total of 17.5 h at 5.3 GHz, yielding a 4.8 ± 1.4 μJy radio source at a position consistent with the binary system. At a distance of 1.7 kpc, this corresponds to an integrated radio luminosity between 4 and 8 10 25 erg s –1 , depending on the spectral index. This is the lowest radio luminosity measured for any accreting black hole to date. Simultaneous observations with the Chandra X-ray Telescope detected XTE J1118+480 at 1.2 10 –14 erg s –1  cm –2 (1–10 keV), corresponding to an Eddington ratio of ~4 10 –9 for a 7.5 M black hole. Combining these new measurements with data from the 2005 and 2000 outbursts available in the literature, we find evidence for a relationship of the form r = α+β X (where denotes logarithmic luminosities), with β = 0.72 ± 0.09. XTE J1118+480 is thus the third system – together with GX339-4 and V404 Cyg – for which a tight, non-linear radio/X-ray correlation has been reported over more than 5 dex in X . Confirming previous results, we find no evidence for a dependence of the correlation normalization of an individual system on orbital parameters, relativistic boosting, reported black hole spin and/or black hole mass. We then perform a clustering and linear regression analysis on what is arguably the most up-to-date collection of coordinated radio and X-ray luminosity measurements from quiescent and hard-state black hole X-ray binaries, including 24 systems. At variance with previous results, a two-cluster description is statistically preferred only for random errors 0.3 dex in both r and X , a level which we argue can be easily reached when the known spectral shape/distance uncertainties and intrinsic variability are accounted for. A linear regression analysis performed on the whole data set returns a best-fitting slope β = 0.61 ± 0.03 and intrinsic scatter 0  = 0.31 ± 0.03 dex.

Description: The nature of black hole jets at the lowest detectable luminosities remains an open question, largely due to a dearth of observational constraints. Here, we present a new, nearly simultaneous broad-band spectrum of the black hole X-ray binary (BHXB) XTE J1118+480 at an extremely low Eddington ratio ( L X  ~ 10 –8.5 L Edd ). Our new spectral energy distribution (SED) includes the radio, near-infrared, optical, ultraviolet, and X-ray wavebands. XTE J1118+480 is now the second BHXB at such a low Eddington ratio with a well-sampled SED, thereby providing new constraints on highly sub-Eddington accretion flows and jets, and opening the door to begin comparison studies between systems. We apply a multizone jet model to the new broad-band SED, and we compare our results to previous fits to the same source using the same model at 4–5 decades higher luminosity. We find that after a BHXB transitions to the so-called quiescent spectral state, the jet base becomes more compact (by up to an order of magnitude) and slightly cooler (by at least a factor of 2). Our preferred model fit indicates that jet particle acceleration is much weaker after the transition into quiescence. That is, accelerated non-thermal particles no longer reach high enough Lorentz factors to contribute significant amounts of synchrotron X-ray emission. Instead, the X-ray waveband is dominated by synchrotron self-Compton emission from a population of mildly relativistic electrons with a quasi-thermal velocity distribution that are associated with the jet base. The corresponding (thermal) synchrotron component from the jet base emits primarily in the infrared through ultraviolet wavebands. Our results on XTE J1118+480 are consistent with broad-band modelling for A0620-00 (the only other comparably low Eddington ratio BHXB with a well-sampled SED) and for Sgr A* (the quiescent supermassive black hole at the Galactic centre). The above could therefore represent a canonical baseline geometry for accreting black holes in quiescence. We conclude with suggestions for future studies to further investigate the above scenario.

Description: We revisit the paradigm of the dependence of jet power on black hole (BH) spin in accreting BH systems. In a previous paper, we showed that the luminosity of compact jets continuously launched due to accretion on to BHs in X-ray binaries (analogous to those that dominate the kinetic feedback from active galactic nuclei) does not appear to correlate with reported BH spin measurements. It is therefore unclear whether extraction of the BH spin energy is the main driver powering compact jets from accreting BHs. Occasionally, BH X-ray binaries produce discrete, transient (ballistic) jets for a brief time over accretion state changes. Here, we quantify the dependence of the power of these transient jets (adopting two methods to infer the jet power) on BH spin, making use of all the available data in the current literature, which include 12 BHs with both measured spin parameters and radio flares over the state transition. In several sources, regular, well-sampled radio monitoring has shown that the peak radio flux differs dramatically depending on the outburst (up to a factor of 1000), whereas the total power required to energize the flare may only differ by a factor of 4 between outbursts. The peak flux is determined by the total energy in the flare and the time over which it is radiated (which can vary considerably between outbursts). Using a Bayesian fitting routine, we rule out a statistically significant positive correlation between transient jet power measured using these methods and current estimates of BH spin. Even when selecting sub-samples of the data that disregard some methods of BH spin measurement or jet power measurement, no correlation is found in all cases.