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Article: IXPE Observations of the Quintessential Wind-accreting X-Ray Pulsar Vela X-1

TitleIXPE Observations of the Quintessential Wind-accreting X-Ray Pulsar Vela X-1
Authors
Issue Date1-Apr-2023
PublisherAmerican Astronomical Society
Citation
Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2023, v. 947, n. 2, p. 1-10 How to Cite?
Abstract

The radiation from accreting X-ray pulsars was expected to be highly polarized, with some estimates for the polarization degree of up to 80%. However, phase-resolved and energy-resolved polarimetry of X-ray pulsars is required in order to test different models and to shed light on the emission processes and the geometry of the emission region. Here we present the first results of the observations of the accreting X-ray pulsar Vela X-1 performed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. Vela X-1 is considered to be the archetypal example of a wind-accreting, high-mass X-ray binary system, consisting of a highly magnetized neutron star accreting matter from its supergiant stellar companion. The spectropolarimetric analysis of the phase-averaged data for Vela X-1 reveals a polarization degree (PD) of 2.3% ± 0.4% at the polarization angle (PA) of −47fdg3 ± 5fdg4. A low PD is consistent with the results obtained for other X-ray pulsars and is likely related to the inverse temperature structure of the neutron star atmosphere. The energy-resolved analysis shows the PD above 5 keV reaching 6%–10% and a ∼90° difference in the PA compared to the data in the 2–3 keV range. The phase-resolved spectropolarimetric analysis finds a PD in the range 0%–9% with the PA varying between −80° and 40°.


Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/331302
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 8.8
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 2.766
ISI Accession Number ID

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorForsblom, SV-
dc.contributor.authorPoutanen, J-
dc.contributor.authorTsygankov, SS-
dc.contributor.authorBachetti, M-
dc.contributor.authorMarco, AD-
dc.contributor.authorDoroshenko, V-
dc.contributor.authorHeyl, J-
dc.contributor.authorMonaca, FL-
dc.contributor.authorMalacaria, C-
dc.contributor.authorMarshall, HL-
dc.contributor.authorMuleri, F-
dc.contributor.authorMushtukov, AA-
dc.contributor.authorPilia, M-
dc.contributor.authorRogantini, D-
dc.contributor.authorSuleimanov, VF-
dc.contributor.authorTaverna, R-
dc.contributor.authorXie, F-
dc.contributor.authorAgudo, I-
dc.contributor.authorAntonelli, LA-
dc.contributor.authorBaldini, L-
dc.contributor.authorBaumgartner, WH-
dc.contributor.authorBellazzini, R-
dc.contributor.authorBianchi, S-
dc.contributor.authorBongiorno, SD-
dc.contributor.authorBonino, R-
dc.contributor.authorBrez, A-
dc.contributor.authorBucciantini, N-
dc.contributor.authorCapitanio, F-
dc.contributor.authorCastellano, S-
dc.contributor.authorCavazzuti, E-
dc.contributor.authorChen, Ng, CY-
dc.contributor.authoret al-
dc.date.accessioned2023-09-21T06:54:31Z-
dc.date.available2023-09-21T06:54:31Z-
dc.date.issued2023-04-01-
dc.identifier.citationAstrophysical Journal Letters, 2023, v. 947, n. 2, p. 1-10-
dc.identifier.issn2041-8205-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/331302-
dc.description.abstract<p>The radiation from accreting X-ray pulsars was expected to be highly polarized, with some estimates for the polarization degree of up to 80%. However, phase-resolved and energy-resolved polarimetry of X-ray pulsars is required in order to test different models and to shed light on the emission processes and the geometry of the emission region. Here we present the first results of the observations of the accreting X-ray pulsar Vela X-1 performed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. Vela X-1 is considered to be the archetypal example of a wind-accreting, high-mass X-ray binary system, consisting of a highly magnetized neutron star accreting matter from its supergiant stellar companion. The spectropolarimetric analysis of the phase-averaged data for Vela X-1 reveals a polarization degree (PD) of 2.3% ± 0.4% at the polarization angle (PA) of −47<img src="https://cdn.images.iop.org/Entities/fdg.gif" alt="fdg">3 ± 5<img src="https://cdn.images.iop.org/Entities/fdg.gif" alt="fdg">4. A low PD is consistent with the results obtained for other X-ray pulsars and is likely related to the inverse temperature structure of the neutron star atmosphere. The energy-resolved analysis shows the PD above 5 keV reaching 6%–10% and a ∼90° difference in the PA compared to the data in the 2–3 keV range. The phase-resolved spectropolarimetric analysis finds a PD in the range 0%–9% with the PA varying between −80° and 40°.</p>-
dc.languageeng-
dc.publisherAmerican Astronomical Society-
dc.relation.ispartofAstrophysical Journal Letters-
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.-
dc.titleIXPE Observations of the Quintessential Wind-accreting X-Ray Pulsar Vela X-1-
dc.typeArticle-
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_version-
dc.identifier.doi10.3847/2041-8213/acc391-
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-85158131320-
dc.identifier.volume947-
dc.identifier.issue2-
dc.identifier.spage1-
dc.identifier.epage10-
dc.identifier.eissn2041-8213-
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000976739200001-
dc.identifier.issnl2041-8205-

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