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arXiv · astro-ph/9611017

Discovery of a bow shock around Vela X-1

Lex Kaper·Jacco van Loon·Thomas Augusteijn·Paul Goudfrooij·Nando Patat·Albert Zijlstra·Rens Waters
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Abstract

We report the discovery of a symmetric bow shock around the well-known high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) Vela X-1. Wind bow shocks are a ubiquitous phenomenon around OB-runaway stars, but now such a structure is found around a HMXB. The presence of a bow shock indicates that the system has a high (supersonic) velocity with respect to the interstellar medium. From the symmetry of the bow shock, the direction of motion and, moreover, the origin and age of the system can be derived. Our observation supports Blaauw's scenario for the formation of an OB-runaway star by the supernova explosion of the binary companion.

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Lex Kaper, Jacco van Loon, Thomas Augusteijn, Paul Goudfrooij, Nando Patat, Albert Zijlstra, Rens Waters. 1996-11-04. Discovery of a bow shock around Vela X-1. https://doi.org/10.1086/310454

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