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

Krawczynski H, Muleri F, Dovčiak M, Veledina A, Rodriguez Cavero N, Svoboda J, Ingram A, Matt G, Garcia JA, Loktev V, Negro M, Poutanen J, Kitaguchi T, Podgorný J, Rankin J, Zhang W, Berdyugin A, Berdyugina SV, Bianchi S, Blinov D, Capitanio F, Di Lalla N, Draghis P, Fabiani S, Kagitani M, Kravtsov V, Kiehlmann S, Latronico L, Lutovinov AA, Mandarakas N, Marin F, Marinucci A, Miller JM, Mizuno T, Molkov SV, Omodei N, Petrucci PO, Ratheesh A, Sakanoi T, Semena AN, Skalidis R, Soffitta P, Tennant AF, Thalhammer P, Tombesi F, Weisskopf MC, Wilms J, Zhang S, Agudo I, Antonelli LA, Bachetti M, Baldini L, Baumgartner WH, Bellazzini R, Bongiorno SD, 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 SR, Enoto T, Evangelista Y, Ferrazzoli R, Gunji S, Hayashida K, Heyl J, Iwakiri W, Jorstad SG, Karas V, Kolodziejczak JJ, La Monaca F, Liodakis I, Maldera S, Manfreda A, Marscher AP, Marshall HL, Mitsuishi I, Ng CY, O'Dell SL, Oppedisano C, Papitto A, Pavlov GG, Peirson AL, Perri M, Pesce-Rollins M, Pilia M, Possenti A, Puccetti S, Ramsey BD, Romani RW, Sgrò C, Slane P, Spandre G, Tamagawa T, Tavecchio F, Taverna R, Tawara Y, Thomas NE, Trois A, Tsygankov S, Turolla R, Vink J, Wu K, Xie F, Zane S (2022)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Journal

Book Volume: 378

Pages Range: 650-654

Journal Issue: 6620

DOI: 10.1126/science.add5399

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.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Boston University United States (USA) (US) University of Padua / Universita degli Studi di Padova Italy (IT) National Institute for Astrophysics / Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF) Italy (IT) Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (ASCR) / Akademie věd České republiky (AVČR) Czech Republic (CZ) Turku University Hospital / Turun yliopistollinen keskussairaala (TYKS) Finland (FI) Washington University United States (USA) (US) Università degli Studi Roma Tre Italy (IT) Tohoku University Japan (JP) Russian Space Research Institute / Институт космических исследований Российской академии наук (IKI RAN) Russian Federation (RU) Italian Space Agency / Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) Italy (IT) Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) / Ίδρυμα Τεχνολογίας και Έρευνας Greece (GR) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) United States (USA) (US) Università degli Studi di Roma 'Tor Vergata' Italy (IT) Hiroshima University Japan (JP) Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia / Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) Spain (ES) INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari Italy (IT) National Institute for Nuclear Physics / Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) Italy (IT) Riken Institute of Physical and Chemical Research / 理研 Japan (JP) Yamagata University (YU) Japan (JP) Osaka University Japan (JP) Chuo University / 中央大学 Japan (JP) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) United States (USA) (US) Nagoya University / 名古屋大学 Japan (JP) University of Hong Kong (HKU) / 香港大學 Hong Kong (HK) Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) United States (USA) (US) Stanford University United States (USA) (US) Newcastle University United Kingdom (GB) California Institute of Technology (Caltech) United States (USA) (US) University of Maryland, Baltimore County United States (USA) (US) National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences / 中国科学院国家天文台 (NAOC) China (CN) University of Michigan United States (USA) (US) Université de Strasbourg (UDS) France (FR) Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG) France (FR) University of British Columbia Canada (CA) Smithsonian Institution United States (USA) (US) Univerzita Karlova v Praze / Charles University in Prague Czech Republic (CZ) University of Amsterdam Netherlands (NL) University College London (UCL) United Kingdom (GB)

How to cite

APA:

Krawczynski, H., Muleri, F., Dovčiak, M., Veledina, A., Rodriguez Cavero, N., Svoboda, J.,... Zane, S. (2022). Polarized x-rays constrain the disk-jet geometry in the black hole x-ray binary Cygnus X-1. Science, 378(6620), 650-654. https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.add5399

MLA:

Krawczynski, Henric, et al. "Polarized x-rays constrain the disk-jet geometry in the black hole x-ray binary Cygnus X-1." Science 378.6620 (2022): 650-654.

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