Bibcode
Casella, Piergiorgio; Maccarone, T.; O'Brien, K.; Fender, R.; Russell, D.; van der Klis, M.; Pe'er, A.; Maitra, D.; Altamirano, D.; Belloni, T.; Kanbach, G.; Klein-Wolt, M.; Mason, E.; Migliari, S.; Soleri, P.; Stefanescu, A.; Wiersema, K.; Wijnands, R.
Bibliographical reference
American Astronomical Society, HEAD meeting #11, #43.18; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.734
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2
2010
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
The frontiers of high time resolution Astrophysics are rapidly
expanding, moving from the traditional X-ray Astronomy to more and more
wavelengths. The study of X-ray variability in X-ray binaries has
represented - and still is - one of the most powerful tools to study the
accretion flow in the vicinity of compact objects. Recent optical
variability suggests an important role played by the jet in these
systems. However, in optical and ultraviolet light the emission from the
outer accretion disk can strongly contaminate the jet signal, while at
longer wavelengths, the variability will be smeared out in time as it
comes from far out in the jet. Infrared variability studies are thus
ideal for looking at jet variability on the fastest possible timescales.
Thanks to newly available detectors, fast infrared and mid-infrared
photometry is now possible. This is opening a new exciting window to
study the geometry and the Physics of relativistic jets and their
connection with the accretion flow. I will present the first results
from a large ongoing fast-timing multi-wavelength project, and discuss
possible physical interpretations. I will show how this type of data
already allows us to put quantitative constraints to the jet geometry
and physics, and discuss the great potential of new observations in the
near future.