# Orbital modulation and longer-term variability in the radio emission from Cygnus X-1

## 1 Introduction

Cygnus X-1 (= HDE 226868, V1357 Cyg) is a well-studied X-ray binary; Lewin, van Paradijs & van den Heuvel (1995) give a recent summary of the data on this system. The compact object is massive, $`M7M_{\mathrm{}}`$, and has long been considered as one of the most likely candidates for an identified black hole. The donor is a supergiant with $`M20M_{\mathrm{}}`$. The binary period, 5$`\stackrel{d}{.}`$6, is well-established from optical observations (e.g. Gies & Bolton 1982) and has also been found in soft and hard X-rays (2–12 keV: Zhang, Robinson & Cui 1996; 20–100 keV: Paciesas et al. 1997).

The X-ray emission has a complex spectrum and varies between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ states, often referred to (in terms of their soft X-ray flux) as ‘low’ and ‘high’ respectively. The radio observations described here were taken exclusively during the more usual hard/low state. X-ray variations are found on all time-scales from milliseconds to years. For the initial comparison with soft X-ray data, in this paper we use the RXTE all-sky monitor ‘quick-look’ database, covering 2–12 keV.

Radio emission from Cyg X-1 has been studied since soon after its discovery as an X-ray source. In 1971, the flux density increased from an undetectable level to a fairly steady state at the same time as a change in the X-ray state (Hjellming & Wade 1971; Braes & Miley 1971). Generally, the radio emission has a flat spectrum and a flux of 10–20 mJy when the source is in the hard/low X-ray state and is lower when in the soft/high state. A radio event associated with an X-ray flare in 1975 was reported by Hjellming, Gibson & Owen (1975). Han (1993) and Hjellming & Han (1995) report modulation at a period which they believed to be the orbital period (and which was confirmed with the early part of the present data by Fender, Brocksopp & Pooley 1997a).

## 2 Observations

The Ryle Telescope at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory, Cambridge was used for the monitoring reported here. Details are as for the observations reported by Pooley & Fender (1997); in this case the phase calibrator used was B2005+403. The radio data are presented here as 10-min integrations and the typical rms uncertainty is 1 mJy. The data shown here were collected between 1996 Oct 21 and 1998 Jun 13. We have also made use of radio data from the Green Bank Interferometer (details of which may be found in Waltman et al. 1994) which monitors this and many other sources at 2.25 and 8.3 GHz.

## 3 Results

The whole dataset is plotted in Fig. 1, together with the RXTE ASM data for the same period. The X-ray emission was in the hard/low state for the whole of this interval. Activity in the previous few months took it into the high/soft state, with considerable increase and rapid variations in the mean soft X-ray flux (Zhang et al. 1997); unfortunately, our monitoring program had not started and the Green Bank Interferometer was not operating during the period of increased X-ray activity.

In displaying the 5$`\stackrel{d}{.}`$6 period, we have used the spectroscopic ephemeris recently derived by A.E. Tarasov (Brocksopp et al. 1998):

$$P=5\stackrel{d}{.}599847\pm 0\stackrel{d}{.}000018$$

$$T=\mathrm{JDh}2441874.703\pm 0.009$$

and the folded plots all refer to this epoch, inferior conjunction of the supergiant, as the zero of phase. Other recent discussions of the ephemeris (e.g. Sowers et al. 1998, LaSala et al. 1998) are in agreement with these values. In Fig. 2 we show four sets of data folded on this ephemeris into 16 equal phase bins: these are the radio flux densities at 15, 8.3 and 2.25 GHz, and the RXTE ASM 2–12 keV count-rate.

There are several features which are apparent from these folded plots:

* The overall mean radio spectrum is flat, as has been noted before.
* The modulation at the 5$`\stackrel{d}{.}`$6 period is stronger at the higher frequencies, and is barely detectable at 2.25 GHz. At 15 GHz, the semi-amplitude is 16% of the mean; in the ASM band it is 6.5%.
* The minimum of the X-ray flux agrees very closely with the spectroscopic determination of the conjunction.
* The minimum of the radio emission is significantly later than that of the X-rays (by about 16 h at 15 GHz, and longer delays at lower frequencies).
* There is a suggestion that the folded 15-GHz data do not fit particularly well to a sinusoid. Residuals after subtracting the best-fitting sinusoid are shown in Fig. 3. The deviations appear only marginally significant; there are 2165 points in the 15-GHz database, and so typically 135 per bin in these plots. The rms scatter throughout the database relative to the mean is 4.2 mJy, and reduces to 4.0 mJy on subtraction of the sinusoid. So the expected deviation of the points in the residual, if the bulk of the variations are independent of the 5$`\stackrel{d}{.}`$6 periodicity, would be about 0.35 mJy. The rms deviation is in fact 0.6 mJy, suggesting that there may be an additional non-sinusoidal term.

By far the most striking feature in the longer-term variation is the apparent periodicity at about 150 – 160 d, obvious on inspection of Fig. 1, which faded away after the first two or three cycles. We note that this ‘period’ is approximately half the 294 d X-ray and optical period reported by Priedhorsky, Terrel & Holt (1983) and Kemp et al. (1987). We only have 600 days of radio data, but we find no evidence for a 294-day period.

The variations in radio flux density do seem to be loosely correlated with the X-ray flux (Fig. 1). Fig. 4 shows a plot of daily averages of the two datasets (all data-points within one calendar day are averaged, and 415 of the 600 days have data from both wavebands). A plot of the same datasets after subtraction of the best-fit sinusoids has a very similar appearance; the 5$`\stackrel{d}{.}`$6 period is not responsible for the correlation in Fig. 4. There is also one isolated event in Fig. 1 which shows evidence for a relationship between the two wavebands; the largest flux densities in both the 15-GHz and ASM datasets are near MJD 50650 (1997 July 21). Fig. 5 is an expanded plot of this section of data, where it is apparent that typical variations in both wavebands are on short timescales and that essentially continuous monitoring would be required for any more detailed interpretation.

## 4 Discussion

Hjellming & Han (1995) discuss models for the the radio emission of X-ray binaries. They comment on the difficulty of producing satisfactory models for stable, flat-spectrum emission, and that optically-thick, conical jets do represent a possible class of model. A relativistic jet whose orientation was linked to the underlying binary system would provide a natural mechanism for the 5$`\stackrel{d}{.}`$6 period. It is less clear how that model would explain the change in phase and amplitude of the 5$`\stackrel{d}{.}`$6 variation with the observing frequency. If the periodic variations are not associated with a relativistic beam, we may consider changes in the absorbtion along the line of sight (including eclipses). In the case of eclipses, the lower modulation at longer wavelengths may reflect a larger volume contributing to the emission as a result of some optical-depth effect.

The X-ray emission of Cyg X-1, in particular the state transitions, has many similarities with that of another black hole candidate X-ray binary, GX 339-4 (Tanaka & Lewin 1995 and references therein). GX 339-4 has recently been found to exhibit radio emission with a flat spectrum and comparable radio luminosity to Cyg X-1 (Sood & Campbell-Wilson 1994; Fender et al. 1997b). This radio emission appears to be correlated with XTE ASM monitoring during low/hard states in a similar manner to that of Cyg X-1 (Hannikainen et al. 1998) and furthermore has been observed to decrease by more than a factor 20 during a transition from hard/low to soft/high state (Fender et al., in prep.). The radio emission from GX 339-4 is also roughly correlated with the hard X-ray (20–100 keV) during the low/hard state (Hannikainen et al. 1998) and we might expect to see such a correlation in Cyg X-1 also.

Observations of these sources in both radio and X-ray regimes may well shed more light on the interrelation between the disc/corona and the synchrotron (presumably outflowing) regions of the binaries.

Further analysis of the Cygnus X-1 observations, including data from more wavebands, will be described in another paper.

## Acknowledgements

RPF is an EC Marie Curie Fellow supported by grant ERBFMBICT 972436. The Ryle Telescope is supported by PPARC. We acknowledge with thanks the use of the quick-look results provided by the ASM/RXTE team, and Green Bank Interferometer data. The Green Bank Interferometer is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated by the NRAO in support of NASA High Energy Astrophysics programs. CB acknowledges a PPARC studentship.