Australia Telescope Compact Array observations for project C3620 semester 2025OCTS

Full description

Neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binaries (XRBs) offer a unique opportunity to explore and understand how jets are launched from accretion flows. These systems can go through months long transient outbursts, where the structure of the accretion flow and mass accretion rate change dramatically, driving marked changes in the emitted jets. Compared to their black hole (BH) counterparts, NS XRBs are unique in that they provide measurable system properties (such as spin and magnetic field). Despite this, jet launching from these systems is far less understood due to the lack of high-cadence, multiwavelength monitoring campaigns. To begin to solve this puzzle, we request twelve 4-hour ATCA observations that will be taken throughout an outburst from a NS XRB. These radio observations will be coupled with an approved, high cadence X-ray program (made up of 20 2.5-ks Swift-XRT observations) to track the entire evolution of the accretion inflow and jet outflow over an outburst. This project aims to answer key fundamental questions about jet launching in NSs: how do NSs launch jets? Is jet quenching universal? How are the jets connected to the accretion flow? and do NSs launch transient jet ejecta close to state transitions? As well as identify key differences/similarities between the disk-jet evolution between BH and NS systems.