SS 433 is a binary system containing a supergiant star that is overflowing its Roche lobe with matter accreting onto a compact object (either a black hole or neutron star)1–3. Two jets of ionized matter with a bulk velocity of approximately 0.26c (where c is the speed of light in vacuum) extend from the binary, perpendicular to the line of sight, and terminate inside W50, a supernova remnant that is being distorted by the jets2,4–8. SS 433 differs from other microquasars (small-scale versions of quasars that are present within our own Galaxy) in that the accretion is believed to be super-Eddington9–11, and the luminosity of the system is about 1040 ergs per second2,9,12,13. The lobes of W50 in which the jets terminate, about 40 parsecs from the central source, are expected to accelerate charged particles, and indeed radio and X-ray emission consistent with electron synchrotron emission in a magnetic field have been observed14–16. At higher energies (greater than 100 gigaelectronvolts), the particle fluxes of γ-rays from X-ray hotspots around SS 433 have been reported as flux upper limits6,17–20. In this energy regime, it has been unclear whether the emission is dominated by electrons that are interacting with photons from the cosmic microwave background through inverse-Compton scattering or by protons that are interacting with the ambient gas. Here we report teraelectronvolt γ-ray observations of the SS 433/W50 system that spatially resolve the lobes. The teraelectronvolt emission is localized to structures in the lobes, far from the centre of the system where the jets are formed. We have measured photon energies of at least 25 teraelectronvolts, and these are certainly not Doppler-boosted, because of the viewing geometry. We conclude that the emission—from radio to teraelectronvolt energies—is consistent with a single population of electrons with energies extending to at least hundreds of teraelectronvolts in a magnetic field of about 16 microgauss.Observations of teraelectronvolt γ-rays accelerated by the jets of the miniature quasar SS 433 are reported.

中文翻译：

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由微型类星体 SS 433 的喷流提供动力的超高能粒子加速

SS 433 是一个双星系统，包含一颗超巨星，它的罗氏瓣溢出了物质，吸积到致密物体（黑洞或中子星）1-3 上。两股电离物质射流的体积速度约为 0.26c（其中 c 是真空中的光速）从双星垂直于视线延伸，并终止于 W50 内，W50 是一颗超新星遗迹，正被喷气机2,4-8。SS 433 与其他微类星体（存在于我们银河系中的类星体的小规模版本）的不同之处在于吸积被认为是超爱丁顿 9-11，并且该系统的光度约为每秒 1040 尔格 2,9， 12,13。射流终止的 W50 瓣，距中心源约 40 秒差距，预计会加速带电粒子，事实上，已经观察到与磁场中电子同步加速器发射一致的无线电和 X 射线发射 14-16。在更高的能量（大于 100 吉电子伏特）下，来自 SS 433 周围 X 射线热点的 γ 射线的粒子通量已被报告为通量上限 6,17-20。在这种能量范围内，尚不清楚发射是由通过逆康普顿散射与来自宇宙微波背景的光子相互作用的电子还是由与环境气体相互作用的质子支配。在这里，我们报告了空间分辨瓣的 SS 433/W50 系统的太电子伏特 γ 射线观测。太电子伏特发射局部于叶瓣中的结构，远离形成射流的系统中心。我们测量了至少 25 太电子伏特的光子能量，由于观察几何形状，这些肯定不是多普勒增强的。我们得出结论，从无线电到太电子伏特能量的发射与在大约 16 微高斯的磁场中能量扩展到至少数百太电子伏特的单一电子群一致。微型类星体 SS 433 被报道。