Cygnus X-3 revealed as a Galactic ultraluminous X-ray source by IXPE | Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía

DOI:

10.1038/s41550-024-02294-9

Publication date:

11/06/2024

Main author:

Veledina, Alexandra

IAA authors:

Lutovinov, Alexander A.;Molkov, Sergey V.;Mereminskiy, Ilya A.;Agudo, Iván;Brez, Alessandro

Authors:

Veledina, Alexandra;Muleri, Fabio;Poutanen, Juri;Podgorný, Jakub;Dovčiak, Michal;Capitanio, Fiamma;Churazov, Eugene;De Rosa, Alessandra;Di Marco, Alessandro;Forsblom, Sofia V.;Kaaret, Philip;Krawczynski, Henric;La Monaca, Fabio;Loktev, Vladislav;Lutovinov, Alexander A.;Molkov, Sergey V.;Mushtukov, Alexander A.;Ratheesh, Ajay;Rodriguez Cavero, Nicole;Steiner, James F.;Sunyaev, Rashid A.;Tsygankov, Sergey S.;Weisskopf, Martin C.;Zdziarski, Andrzej A.;Bianchi, Stefano;Bright, Joe S.;Bursov, Nikolaj;Costa, Enrico;Egron, Elise;Garcia, Javier A.;Green, David A.;Gurwell, Mark;Ingram, Adam;Kajava, Jari J. E.;Kale, Ruta;Kraus, Alex;Malyshev, Denys;Marin, Frédéric;Matt, Giorgio;McCollough, Michael;Mereminskiy, Ilya A.;Nizhelsky, Nikolaj;Piano, Giovanni;Pilia, Maura;Pittori, Carlotta;Rao, Ramprasad;Righini, Simona;Soffitta, Paolo;Shevchenko, Anton;Svoboda, Jiri;Tombesi, Francesco;Trushkin, Sergei A.;Tsybulev, Peter;Ursini, Francesco;Wu, Kinwah;Agudo, Iván;Antonelli, Lucio A.;Bachetti, Matteo;Baldini, Luca;Baumgartner, Wayne H.;Bellazzini, Ronaldo;Bongiorno, Stephen D.;Bonino, Raffaella;Brez, Alessandro;Bucciantini, Niccolò;Castellano, Simone;Cavazzuti, Elisabetta;Chen, Chien-Ting;Ciprini, Stefano;Del Monte, Ettore;Di Gesu, Laura;Di Lalla, Niccolò;Donnarumma, Immacolata;Doroshenko, Victor;Ehlert, Steven R.;Enoto, Teruaki;Evangelista, Yuri;Fabiani, Sergio;Ferrazzoli, Riccardo;Gunji, Shuichi;Hayashida, Kiyoshi;Heyl, Jeremy;Iwakiri, Wataru;Jorstad, Svetlana G.;Karas, Vladimir;Kislat, Fabian;Kitaguchi, Takao;Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J.;Latronico, Luca;Liodakis, Ioannis;Maldera, Simone;Manfreda, Alberto;Marinucci, Andrea;Marscher, Alan P.;Marshall, Herman L.;Massaro, Francesco;Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki;Mizuno, Tsunefumi;Negro, Michela;Ng, Chi-Yung;O'Dell, Stephen L.;Omodei, Nicola;Oppedisano, Chiara;Papitto, Alessandro;Pavlov, George G.;Peirson, Abel L.;Perri, Matteo;Pesce-Rollins, Melissa;Petrucci, Pierre-Olivier;Possenti, Andrea;Puccetti, Simonetta;Ramsey, Brian D.;Rankin, John;Roberts, Oliver;Romani, Roger W.;Sgrò, Carmelo;Slane, Patrick;Spandre, Gloria;Swartz, Doug;Tamagawa, Toru;Tavecchio, Fabrizio;Taverna, Roberto;Tawara, Yuzuru;Tennant, Allyn F.;Thomas, Nicholas E.;Trois, Alessio;Turolla, Roberto;Vink, Jacco;Xie, Fei;Zane, Silvia

Journal:

Nature Astronomy

Publication type:

Article

Pages:

1031-1046

Abstract:

The accretion of matter by compact objects can be inhibited by radiation pressure if the luminosity exceeds a critical value known as the Eddington limit. The discovery of ultraluminous X-ray sources has shown that accretion can proceed even when the apparent luminosity considerably exceeds this limit. A high apparent luminosity might be produced due to the geometric beaming of radiation by an outflow. The outflow half-opening angle, which determines the amplification due to beaming, has never been robustly constrained. Using the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, we measured the X-ray polarization in the Galactic X-ray binary Cygnus X-3 (Cyg X-3). We found high, >20%, nearly energy-independent linear polarization orthogonal to the direction of the radio ejections. These properties unambiguously indicate the presence of a collimating outflow from the X-ray binary Cyg X-3 and constrain its half-opening angle to ≲15°. Thus, the source can be used as a laboratory for studying the supercritical accretion regime. This finding underscores the importance of X-ray polarimetry in advancing our understanding of accreting sources.

Database:

ADS

SCOPUS

URL:

https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/#abs/2024NatAs...8.1031V/abstract

ADS Bibcode:

2024NatAs...8.1031V