First Detection of Polarization in X-Rays for PSR B0540-69 and Its Nebula | Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía

DOI:

10.3847/1538-4357/ad17ba

Publication date:

11/02/2024

Main author:

Xie, Fei

IAA authors:

Agudo, Iván

Authors:

Xie, Fei;Wong, Josephine;La Monaca, Fabio;Romani, Roger W.;Heyl, Jeremy;Kaaret, Philip;Di Marco, Alessandro;Bucciantini, Niccolò;Liu, Kuan;Ng, Chi-Yung;Di Lalla, Niccolò;Weisskopf, Martin C.;Costa, Enrico;Soffitta, Paolo;Muleri, Fabio;Bachetti, Matteo;Pilia, Maura;Rankin, John;Fabiani, Sergio;Agudo, Iván;Antonelli, Lucio A.;Baldini, Luca;Baumgartner, Wayne H.;Bellazzini, Ronaldo;Bianchi, Stefano;Bongiorno, Stephen D.;Bonino, Raffaella;Brez, Alessandro;Capitanio, Fiamma;Castellano, Simone;Cavazzuti, Elisabetta;Chen, Chien-Ting;Ciprini, Stefano;De Rosa, Alessandra;Del Monte, Ettore;Di Gesu, Laura;Donnarumma, Immacolata;Doroshenko, Victor;Dovčiak, Michal;Ehlert, Steven R.;Enoto, Teruaki;Evangelista, Yuri;Ferrazzoli, Riccardo;Garcia, Javier A.;Gunji, Shuichi;Hayashida, Kiyoshi;Iwakiri, Wataru;Jorstad, Svetlana G.;Karas, Vladimir;Kislat, Fabian;Kitaguchi, Takao;Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J.;Krawczynski, Henric;Latronico, Luca;Liodakis, Ioannis;Maldera, Simone;Manfreda, Alberto;Marin, Frédéric;Marinucci, Andrea;Marscher, Alan P.;Marshall, Herman L.;Massaro, Francesco;Matt, Giorgio;Mitsuishi, Ikuyuki;Mizuno, Tsunefumi;Negro, Michela;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;Poutanen, Juri;Puccetti, Simonetta;Ramsey, Brian D.;Ratheesh, Ajay;Roberts, Oliver J.;Sgrò, Carmelo;Slane, Patrick;Spandre, Gloria;Swartz, Douglas A.;Tamagawa, Toru;Tavecchio, Fabrizio;Taverna, Roberto;Tawara, Yuzuru;Tennant, Allyn F.;Thomas, Nicholas E.;Tombesi, Francesco;Trois, Alessio;Tsygankov, Sergey S.;Turolla, Roberto;Vink, Jacco;Wu, Kinwah;Zane, Silvia;IXPE Collaboration;Wadiasingh, Zorawar;Ho, Wynn C. G.;Harding, Alice K.;Gendreau, Keith C.;Arzoumanian, Zaven

Journal:

The Astrophysical Journal

Publication type:

Article

Volume:

962

Pages:

Abstract:

We report on X-ray polarization measurements of the extragalactic Crab-like PSR B0540-69 and its Pulsar Wind Nebula (PWN) in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using a ∼850 ks Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) exposure. The PWN is unresolved by IXPE. No statistically significant polarization is detected for the image-averaged data, giving a 99% confidence polarization upper limit (MDP<SUB>99</SUB>) of 5.3% in the 2–8 keV energy range. However, a phase-resolved analysis detects polarization for both the nebula and pulsar in the 4–6 keV energy range. For the PWN defined as the off-pulse phases, the polarization degree (PD) of (24.5 ± 5.3)% and polarization angle (PA) of (78.1 ± 6.2)° is detected at 4.6σ significance level, consistent with the PA observed in the optical band. In a single on-pulse window, a hint of polarization is measured at 3.8σ with PD of (50.0 ± 13.1)% and PA of (6.2 ± 7.4)°. A "simultaneous" PSR/PWN analysis finds two bins at the edges of the pulse exceeding 3σ PD significance, with PD of (68 ± 20)% and (62 ± 20)%; intervening bins at 2–3σ significance have lower PD, hinting at additional polarization structure.

Database:

ADS

SCOPUS

URL:

https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/#abs/2024ApJ...962...92X/abstract

ADS Bibcode:

2024ApJ...962...92X

Keywords:

Pulsars;Pulsar wind nebulae;Polarimetry;1306;2215;1278;Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena