X-ray polarization evidence for a 200-year-old flare of Sgr A*
Journal
Date Issued
2023
Author(s)
Marin, Frédéric
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Churazov, Eugene
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Khabibullin, Ildar
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Di Gesu, Laura
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Barnouin, Thibault
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•
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Vikhlinin, Alexey
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•
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Weisskopf, Martin C.
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Wu, Kinwah
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Zane, Silvia
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Sunyaev, Rashid
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Forman, William
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Kraft, Ralph
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Bianchi, Stefano
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Donnarumma, Immacolata
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Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier
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Enoto, Teruaki
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Agudo, Iván
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•
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Baldini, Luca
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Baumgartner, Wayne H.
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Bellazzini, Ronaldo
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Bongiorno, Stephen D.
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Bonino, Raffaella
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Brez, Alessandro
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•
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Castellano, Simone
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Cavazzuti, Elisabetta
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Chen, Chien-Ting
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Ciprini, Stefano
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•
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Di Lalla, Niccolò
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Doroshenko, Victor
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Dovčiak, Michal
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Ehlert, Steven R.
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•
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Garcia, Javier A.
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Gunji, Shuichi
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Hayashida, Kiyoshi
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Heyl, Jeremy
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Ingram, Adam
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Iwakiri, Wataru
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Jorstad, Svetlana G.
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Kaaret, Philip
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Karas, Vladimir
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Kitaguchi, Takao
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Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J.
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Krawczynski, Henric
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Latronico, Luca
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Liodakis, Ioannis
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Maldera, Simone
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Manfreda, Alberto
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Marinucci, Andrea
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Marscher, Alan P.
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Marshall, Herman L.
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•
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Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki
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Mizuno, Tsunefumi
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Negro, Michela
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Ng, C. -Y.
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O'Dell, Stephen L.
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Omodei, Nicola
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Oppedisano, Chiara
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Pavlov, George G.
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Peirson, Abel L.
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Pesce-Rollins, Melissa
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Poutanen, Juri
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Puccetti, Simonetta
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Ramsey, Brian D.
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Roberts, Oliver J.
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Romani, Roger W.
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Sgrò, Carmelo
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Slane, Patrick
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Spandre, Gloria
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Swartz, Doug
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Tamagawa, Toru
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Taverna, Roberto
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Tawara, Yuzuru
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Tennant, Allyn F.
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Thomas, Nicholas E.
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Tsygankov, Sergey S.
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Turolla, Roberto
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Vink, Jacco
Abstract
The centre of the Milky Way Galaxy hosts a black hole with a solar mass of about 4 million (Sagittarius A* (Sgr A)) that is very quiescent at present with a luminosity many orders of magnitude below those of active galactic nuclei1. Reflection of X-rays from Sgr A* by dense gas in the Galactic Centre region offers a means to study its past flaring activity on timescales of hundreds and thousands of years2. The shape of the X-ray continuum and the strong fluorescent iron line observed from giant molecular clouds in the vicinity of Sgr A* are consistent with the reflection scenario3-5. If this interpretation is correct, the reflected continuum emission should be polarized6. Here we report observations of polarized X-ray emission in the direction of the molecular clouds in the Galactic Centre using the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. We measure a polarization degree of 31% ± 11%, and a polarization angle of −48° ± 11°. The polarization angle is consistent with Sgr A* being the primary source of the emission, and the polarization degree implies that some 200 years ago, the X-ray luminosity of Sgr A* was briefly comparable to that of a Seyfert galaxy.
Volume
619
Issue
7968
Start page
41
Issn Identifier
0028-0836
Ads BibCode
2023Natur.619...41M
Rights
open.access
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