The Mid-infrared-emitting Jet in the Black Hole V404 Cygni in Quiescence

Abstract Observations of some quiescent black hole X-ray binaries have revealed an excess of mid-infrared (MIR) emission above that expected from their donor stars. In one system, V404 Cygni, this excess has been variously suggested to arise from the accretion disk, circumbinary material, or a compact relativistic jet. Here we present simultaneous James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and complementary multiwavelength observations undertaken to resolve this uncertainty. We observed large-amplitude 21 μ m variability on short timescales with JWST, particularly a dramatic flare, which swiftly rose to ≈2.4 mJy, over 10 times the lowest observed MIR flux density. Similar variability was simultaneously observed from radio to X-ray wavelengths with other facilities throughout the campaign. This variability and the flat radio/millimeter/MIR spectral index ( α = 0.04 ± 0.01) suggest that the MIR excess at and longward of 21 μ m in V404 Cyg does not arise from the accretion disk or circumbinary material. Instead, the emission at 21 μ m is dominated by synchrotron radiation from a jet, which persists into quiescence. This result reinforces the ubiquity of the disk–jet connection in accreting black holes across a range of masses and accretion rates.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Published
2025-09-22
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae0322
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.15
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article

The Mid-infrared-emitting Jet in the Black Hole V404 Cygni in Quiescence

E. V. Palaiologou, C. O. Heinke, T. Shahbaz, P. Reig et al.
1 citations
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
1.15
article

The Mid-infrared-emitting Jet in the Black Hole V404 Cygni in Quiescence

E. V. Palaiologou, C. O. Heinke, T. Shahbaz, P. Reig, Qiana Hunt, A. W. Shaw, Thomas J. Maccarone, G. R. Sivakoff, R. I. Hynes, Richard M. Plotkin, Alexandra J. Tetarenko, J. C. A. Miller‐Jones, P. Gandhi, P. A. Charles, E. S. Borowski
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Abstract Observations of some quiescent black hole X-ray binaries have revealed an excess of mid-infrared (MIR) emission above that expected from their donor stars. In one system, V404 Cygni, this excess has been variously suggested to arise from the accretion disk, circumbinary material, or a compact relativistic jet. Here we present simultaneous James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and complementary multiwavelength observations undertaken to resolve this uncertainty. We observed large-amplitude 21 μ m variability on short timescales with JWST, particularly a dramatic flare, which swiftly rose to ≈2.4 mJy, over 10 times the lowest observed MIR flux density. Similar variability was simultaneously observed from radio to X-ray wavelengths with other facilities throughout the campaign. This variability and the flat radio/millimeter/MIR spectral index ( α = 0.04 ± 0.01) suggest that the MIR excess at and longward of 21 μ m in V404 Cyg does not arise from the accretion disk or circumbinary material. Instead, the emission at 21 μ m is dominated by synchrotron radiation from a jet, which persists into quiescence. This result reinforces the ubiquity of the disk–jet connection in accreting black holes across a range of masses and accretion rates.

The Astrophysical Journal LettersVol. 991(2)
University of Lethbridge (CA), Butler University (US), Louisiana State University (US), Texas Tech University (US), University of Nevada, Las Vegas (US), University of Nevada, Reno (US), University of Crete (GR), University of Alberta (CA), Universidad de La Laguna (ES), Curtin University (AU), University of Oxford (GB), Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (ES), Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica di Palermo (IT), International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (AU), University of Southampton (GB), Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (GR), University of Palermo (IT)
Openalex Percentile: Top 16%
Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
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