Open AccessThe radio flaring behaviour of GRO J1655−40: an analogy with extragalactic radio sources?
Author(s) -
Stevens J. A.,
Hannikainen D. C.,
Wu Kinwah,
Hunstead R. W.,
McKay D. J.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2003.06578.x
Subject(s) - physics , superluminal motion , astrophysics , quasar , blazar , astronomy , astrophysical jet , flare , very long baseline interferometry , polarization (electrochemistry) , active galactic nucleus , galaxy , gamma ray , chemistry
At radio frequencies, the current evidence for the microquasar–quasar connection is based on imaging observations showing that relativistic outflows/jets are found in both classes of objects. Some microquasars also display superluminal motion, further strengthening the view that microquasars are in fact Galactic miniatures of quasars. Here we demonstrate that this connection can be extended to incorporate timing and spectral observations. Our argument is based on the striking similarity found in the radio flaring behaviour of the Galactic superluminal source GRO J1655−40 and of extragalactic sources, such as the blazar 3C 273. We find that the variability of GRO J1655−40 can be explained within the framework of the successful generalized shock model for compact extragalactic radio sources in which the radio emission arises from shocked plasma in relativistic jets. Specifically, the multifrequency flare amplitudes, time‐delays and radio polarization position angle measurements are consistent with the predictions of the growth stage of this model.