A transient radio jet in an erupting dwarf nova

Understand

Astrophysical jets seem to occur in nearly all types of accreting objects: from supermassive black holes to young stellar objects.

• Based on X-ray binaries, a unified scenario describing the disc/jet coupling has evolved and extended to many accreting objects.
• The only major exceptions are thought to be cataclysmic variables: Dwarf novae, weakly accreting white dwarfs, show similar outburst behaviour as X-ray binaries but no jet has yet been detected.
• Here we present radio observations of a dwarf nova in outburst showing variable flat-spectrum radio emission that is best explained as synchrotron emission originating in a transient jet.