High-resolution X-ray imaging of the colliding wind shock in WR 147

We analyze new high-resolution Chandra X-ray images of the Wolf-Rayet binary system WR147. This system contains a WN8 star with an early-type companion located 0.6" to its north, and is the only known early-type binary with a separation on the sky large enough for the wind-wind collision between the stars to currently be resolved at X-ray energies. The 5 ksec Chandra HRC-I image provides the first direct evidence for spatially extended X-ray emission in an early-type binary system. The X-ray emission peaks close to the position of the radio bow shock and north of the WN8 star. A deeper X-ray image is needed to accurately determine the degree of spatial extension, to exactly align the X-ray and optical/radio frames, and to determine whether part of the detected X-ray emission arises in the individual stellar winds. Simulated X-ray images of the wind-wind collision have a FWHM consistent with the data, and maximum likelihood fits suggest that a deeper observation may also constrain the inclination and wind momentum ratio of this system. However, as the WR wind dominates the colliding wind X-ray emission it appears unlikely that (M) over dot and v(infinityOB) can be separately determined from X-ray observations. We also note an inconsistency between numerical and analytical estimates of the X-ray luminosity ratio of the stronger and weaker wind components, and conclude that the analytical results are in error.