Abstract
The recent discovery1 of radio components apparently moving away from a Galactic source of transient X-ray emission faster than the speed of light (superluminal motion) has identified a low-energy Galactic counterpart to quasars. Here we report high-resolution radio observations of a second Galactic superluminal radio source GRO J1655–40, which was detected as an X-ray transient2 on 27 July 1994. Our radio images reveal two components moving away from each other at an angular speed of 65 ± 5 mas d−1, corresponding to superluminal motion at the estimated distance of 3–5 kpc. The 12-day delay between the X−ray and radio outbursts suggests that the ejection of material at relativistic speeds occurs during a stable phase of accretion onto a black hole, which follows an unstable phase with a high accretion rate.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 141-143 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Nature |
Volume | 374 |
Issue number | 6518 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 9 Mar 1995 |
Externally published | Yes |