A 300-parsec-long jet-inflated bubble around a powerful microquasar in the galaxy NGC 7793

Abstract

Black-hole accretion states near or above the Eddington luminosity (the point at which radiation force outwards overcomes gravity) are still poorly known because of the rarity of such sources. Ultraluminous X-ray sources are the most luminous class of black hole (L(X) approximately 10(40) erg s(-1)) located outside the nuclei of active galaxies. They are likely to be accreting at super-Eddington rates, if they are powered by black holes with masses less than 100 solar masses. They are often associated with shock-ionized nebulae, though with no evidence of collimated jets. Microquasars with steady jets are much less luminous. Here we report that the large nebula S26 (ref. 4) in the nearby galaxy NGC 7793 is powered by a black hole with a pair of collimated jets. It is similar to the famous Galactic source SS433 (ref. 5), but twice as large and a few times more powerful. We determine a mechanical power of around a few 10(40) erg s(-1). The jets therefore seem 10(4) times more energetic than the X-ray emission from the core. S26 has the structure of a Fanaroff-Riley type II (FRII-type) active galaxy: X-ray and optical core, X-ray hot spots, radio lobes and an optical and X-ray cocoon. It is a microquasar where most of the jet power is dissipated in thermal particles in the lobes rather than relativistic electrons.