A black hole x-ray binary (XRB) system forms when gas is stripped from a normal star and accretes onto a black hole, which heats the gas sufficiently to emit x-rays. We report a polarimetric observation of the XRB Cygnus X-1 using the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. The electric field position angle aligns with the outflowing jet, indicating that the jet is launched from the inner x-ray–emitting region. The polarization degree is 4.01 ± 0.20% at 2 to 8 kiloelectronvolts, implying that the accretion disk is viewed closer to edge-on than the binary orbit. These observations reveal that hot x-ray–emitting plasma is spatially extended in a plane perpendicular to, not parallel to, the jet axis.

Polarized x-rays constrain the disk-jet geometry in the black hole x-ray binary Cygnus X-1

Negro M.;Latronico L.;Bonino R.;Maldera S.;
2022-01-01

Abstract

A black hole x-ray binary (XRB) system forms when gas is stripped from a normal star and accretes onto a black hole, which heats the gas sufficiently to emit x-rays. We report a polarimetric observation of the XRB Cygnus X-1 using the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. The electric field position angle aligns with the outflowing jet, indicating that the jet is launched from the inner x-ray–emitting region. The polarization degree is 4.01 ± 0.20% at 2 to 8 kiloelectronvolts, implying that the accretion disk is viewed closer to edge-on than the binary orbit. These observations reveal that hot x-ray–emitting plasma is spatially extended in a plane perpendicular to, not parallel to, the jet axis.
2022
378
6620
650
654
https://arxiv.org/abs/2206.09972
Krawczynski H.; Muleri F.; Dovciak M.; Veledina A.; Cavero N.R.; Svoboda J.; Ingram A.; Matt G.; Garcia J.A.; Loktev V.; Negro M.; Poutanen J.; Kitaguchi T.; Podgorny J.; Rankin J.; Zhang W.; Berdyugin A.; Berdyugina S.V.; Bianchi S.; Blinov D.; Capitanio F.; Di Lalla N.; Draghis P.; Fabiani S.; Kagitani M.; Kravtsov V.; Kiehlmann S.; Latronico L.; Lutovinov A.A.; Mandarakas N.; Marin F.; Marinucci A.; Miller J.M.; Mizuno T.; Molkov S.V.; Omodei N.; Petrucci P.-O.; Ratheesh A.; Sakanoi T.; Semena A.N.; Skalidis R.; Soffitta P.; Tennant A.F.; Thalhammer P.; Tombesi F.; Weisskopf M.C.; Wilms J.; Zhang S.; Agudo I.; Antonelli L.A.; Bachetti M.; Baldini L.; Baumgartner W.H.; Bellazzini R.; Bongiorno S.D.; Bonino R.; Brez A.; Bucciantini N.; Castellano S.; Cavazzuti E.; Ciprini S.; Costa E.; De Rosa A.; Del Monte E.; Di Gesu L.; Di Marco A.; Donnarumma I.; Doroshenko V.; Ehlert S.R.; Enoto T.; Evangelista Y.; Ferrazzoli R.; Gunji S.; Hayashida K.; Heyl J.; Iwakiri W.; Jorstad S.G.; Karas V.; Kolodziejczak J.J.; La Monaca F.; Liodakis I.; Maldera S.; Manfreda A.; Marscher A.P.; Marshall H.L.; Mitsuishi I.; Ng C.-Y.; O'Dell S.L.; Oppedisano C.; Papitto A.; Pavlov G.G.; Peirson A.L.; Perri M.; Pesce-Rollins M.; Pilia M.; Possenti A.; Puccetti S.; Ramsey B.D.; Romani R.W.; Sgro C.; Slane P.; Spandre G.; Tamagawa T.; Tavecchio F.; Taverna R.; Tawara Y.; Thomas N.E.; Trois A.; Tsygankov S.; Turolla R.; Vink J.; Wu K.; Xie F.; Zane S.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/1891175
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