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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

An international team of astronomers has conducted radio observations of a bow shock in the X-ray binary Vela X-1 using MeerKAT telescope. The observational campaign resulted in the detection of radio emission from this source. The finding is detailed in a paper published November 19 on arXiv.org.

Vela X-1 is a runaway high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) system, consisting of an accreting neutron star and the supergiant donor HD 77581 in a tight 9-day orbit. HD 77581 launches a strong stellar wind that causes a bow shock as it interacts with the interstellar medium. This makes Vela X-1 one of only two HMXBs known to experience a bow shock.

To date, the bow shock in Vela X-1 has been detected only by narrow-band hydrogen-alpha imaging and by infrared observations. However, now a group of astronomers led by Jacob van den Eijnden of University of Oxford, UK, reports the radio detection of this feature. The discovery was made as part of the ThunderKAT Large Survey Project with MeerKAT, which is aimed at performing radio observations of active, Southern X-ray binaries, cataclysmic variables, supernovae, and gamma-ray bursts.

Journal Reference:
Eijnden, J. van den, Heywood, I., Fender, R., et al. MeerKAT discovery of radio emission from the Vela X-1 bow shock, (DOI: https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.10159)

Original Submission