EPISODIC EJECTION OF RELATIVISTIC JETS BY THE X-RAY TRANSIENT GRO J1655-40

GRO J1655-40, a recently discovered black-hole candidate, is an ideal system for studying Jets of material from the accretion disk around a black hole. Observations of the radio emission show two highly collima ted relativistic jets, one on each side of the source, which expand an d decay over a few days. The jet ejection, at 92% of the speed of ligh t, appears episodic and asymmetric; the alternate brightening and fadi ng of the jets cannot be explained by relativistic beaming.