Xie, F;
Wong, J;
La Monaca, F;
Romani, RW;
Heyl, J;
Kaaret, P;
Di Marco, A;
... Ho, WCG; + view all
(2024)
First Detection of Polarization in X-Rays for PSR B0540-69 and Its Nebula.
Astrophysical Journal
, 962
(1)
, Article 92. 10.3847/1538-4357/ad17ba.
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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 (MDP99) 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.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | First Detection of Polarization in X-Rays for PSR B0540-69 and Its Nebula |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3847/1538-4357/ad17ba |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad17ba |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10188874 |
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