GMRT monitoring of Cyg X-1 and Cyg X-3

Abstract

We present the results of low frequency radio observations of the X-ray binaries, Cygnus X-1 and Cygnus X-3, during different X-ray states. The low frequency observations were made for the first time for these sources at 0.61 and 1.28 GHz using the Giant Meter-wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) between 2003 and 2004. Both Cyg X-1 and Cyg X-3 are highly variable at low radio frequencies. We also compare our data with the observations at 15 GHz conducted by the Ryle telescope. Spectral turnover is seen for both the sources below 2 GHz. The data suggest that the change in the radio flux density in both the sources is correlated to the X-ray hardness ratio and follows a similar behavior pattern.