An X-ray look at the first head-trail nebula in an X-ray binary

Headtail trails are a common feature in active galactic nuclei and pulsarbowshocks. Heinz et al. (2008) suggested that also Xray binaries, being jetsources moving with high velocities in dense media, can leave trails of highlyionized plasma that should be detectable at radio frequencies. Duringobservations of faintpersistent Xray binaries, we discovered an optical nebulaaround the Xray binary SAX J1712.63739, consisting of a bowshock ringlikenebula in front.. of the binary and two trails originating close to it. Thisis the first detection of such structure in a Xray binary and it opens a newsubfield in the study of these objects. Observations with XMMNewton andChandra are now needed to investigate the properties of the surrounding nebula. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]