Radio and X-ray observations of Aql X-1

We use these data to discuss the disk-jet coupling, finding the radio emission to be consistent with being triggered at state transitions, both from the hard to the soft spectral state and vice versa.

Our data appear to confirm previous suggestions of radio quenching in the soft state above a threshold X-ray luminosity of ~10% of the Eddington luminosity. We also present the first detections of Aql X-1 with very long baseline interferometry, showing that any extended emission is relatively diffuse and consistent with steady jets rather than arising from discrete, compact knots. In all cases where multi-frequency data were available, the source radio spectrum is consistent with being flat or slightly inverted, suggesting that the internal shock mechanism that is believed to produce optically thin transient radio ejecta in black hole X-ray binaries is not active in Aql X-1.