A Strong X-Ray Polarization Signal from the Magnetar 1RXS J170849.0-400910
Date Issued
2023
Author(s)
Zane, Silvia
•
Taverna, Roberto
•
González-Caniulef, Denis
•
•
Turolla, Roberto
•
Heyl, Jeremy
•
Uchiyama, Keisuke
•
Ng, Mason
•
Tamagawa, Toru
•
Caiazzo, Ilaria
•
Di Lalla, Niccolò
•
Marshall, Herman L.
•
•
•
Gau, Ephraim
•
•
Baldini, Luca
•
Negro, Michela
•
Omodei, Nicola
•
•
•
Pavlov, George G.
•
Kitaguchi, Takao
•
Krawczynski, Henric
•
Kislat, Fabian
•
Kelly, Ruth
•
Agudo, Iván
•
•
Baumgartner, Wayne H.
•
Bellazzini, Ronaldo
•
Bianchi, Stefano
•
Bongiorno, Stephen D.
•
Bonino, Raffaella
•
Brez, Alessandro
•
•
•
Castellano, Simone
•
Cavazzuti, Elisabetta
•
Chen, Chieng-Ting
•
Ciprini, Stefano
•
•
•
•
Di Gesu, Laura
•
Donnarumma, Immacolata
•
Doroshenko, Victor
•
Dovčiak, Michal
•
Ehlert, Steven R.
•
Enoto, Teruaki
•
•
•
•
Garcia, Javier A.
•
Gunji, Shuichi
•
Hayashida, Kiyoshi
•
Iwakiri, Wataru
•
Jorstad, Svetlana G.
•
Kaaret, Philip
•
Karas, Vladimir
•
Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J.
•
Latronico, Luca
•
Liodakis, Ioannis
•
Maldera, Simone
•
Manfreda, Alberto
•
Marin, Frédéric
•
Marinucci, Andrea
•
Marscher, Alan P.
•
•
Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki
•
Mizuno, Tsunefumi
•
Ng, C. -Y.
•
O'Dell, Stephen L.
•
Oppedisano, Chiara
•
•
Peirson, Abel L.
•
•
Pesce-Rollins, Melissa
•
Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier
•
•
•
Poutanen, Juri
•
Puccetti, Simonetta
•
Ramsey, Brian D.
•
•
Roberts, Oliver J.
•
Romani, Roger W.
•
Sgró, Carmelo
•
Slane, Patrick
•
•
Spandre, Gloria
•
Swartz, Douglas A.
•
•
Tawara, Yuzuru
•
Tennant, Allyn F.
•
Thomas, Nicholas E.
•
•
•
Tsygankov, Sergey S.
•
Vink, Jacco
•
Weisskopf, Martin C.
•
Wu, Kinwah
•
Abstract
Magnetars are the most strongly magnetized neutron stars, and one of the most promising targets for X-ray polarimetric measurements. We present here the first Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer observation of the magnetar 1RXS J170849.0-400910, jointly analyzed with a new Swift observation and archival NICER data. The total (energy- and phase-integrated) emission in the 2-8 keV energy range is linerarly polarized, at a ~35% level. The phase-averaged polarization signal shows a marked increase with energy, ranging from ~20% at 2-3 keV up to ~80% at 6-8 keV, while the polarization angle remains constant. This indicates that radiation is mostly polarized in a single direction. The spectrum is well reproduced by a combination of either two thermal (blackbody) components or a blackbody and a power law. Both the polarization degree and angle also show a variation with the spin phase, and the former is almost anticorrelated with the source counts in the 2-8 and 2-4 keV bands. We discuss the possible implications and interpretations, based on a joint analysis of the spectral, polarization, and pulsation properties of the source. A scenario in which the surface temperature is not homogeneous, with a hotter cap covered by a gaseous atmosphere and a warmer region in a condensed state, provides a satisfactory description of both the phase- and energy-dependent spectro-polarimetric data. The (comparatively) small size of the two emitting regions, required to explain the observed pulsations, does not allow to reach a robust conclusion about the presence of vacuum birefringence effects....
Volume
944
Issue
2
Start page
L27
Issn Identifier
2041-8205
Rights
open.access
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
Zane_2023_ApJL_944_L27.pdf
Size
1.64 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
1e5cac20206c6ad84fd8e8f56d2ae58e