학술논문

Cygnus X-3 revealed as a Galactic ultraluminous X-ray source by IXPE
Document Type
Working Paper
Author
Veledina, AlexandraMuleri, FabioPoutanen, JuriPodgorný, JakubDovčiak, MichalCapitanio, FiammaChurazov, EugeneDe Rosa, AlessandraDi Marco, AlessandroForsblom, SofiaKaaret, PhilipKrawczynski, HenricLa Monaca, FabioLoktev, VladislavLutovinov, Alexander A.Molkov, Sergey V.Mushtukov, Alexander A.Ratheesh, AjayCavero, Nicole RodriguezSteiner, James F.Sunyaev, Rashid A.Tsygankov, Sergey S.Zdziarski, Andrzej A.Bianchi, StefanoBright, Joe S.Bursov, NikolajCosta, EnricoEgron, EliseGarcia, Javier A.Green, David A.Gurwell, MarkIngram, AdamKajava, Jari J. E.Kale, RutaKraus, AlexMalyshev, DenysMarin, FrédéricMatt, GiorgioMcCollough, MichaelMereminskiy, Ilia A.Nizhelsky, NikolajPiano, GiovanniPilia, MauraPittori, CarlottaRao, RamprasadRighini, SimonaSoffitta, PaoloShevchenko, AntonSvoboda, JiriTombesi, FrancescoTrushkin, SergeiTsybulev, PeterUrsini, FrancescoWeisskopf, Martin C.Wu, KinwahAgudo, IvánAntonelli, Lucio A.Bachetti, MatteoBaldini, LucaBaumgartner, Wayne H.Bellazzini, RonaldoBongiorno, Stephen D.Bonino, RaffaellaBrez, AlessandroBucciantini, NiccolòCastellano, SimoneCavazzuti, ElisabettaChen, Chien-TingCiprini, StefanoDel Monte, EttoreDi Gesu, LauraDi Lalla, NiccolòDonnarumma, ImmacolataDoroshenko, VictorEhlert, Steven R.Enoto, TeruakiEvangelista, YuriFabiani, SergioFerrazzoli, RiccardoGunji, ShuichiHayashida, KiyoshiHeyl, JeremyIwakiri, WataruJorstad, Svetlana G.Karas, VladimirKislat, FabianKitaguchi, TakaoKolodziejczak, Jeffery J.Latronico, LucaLiodakis, IoannisMaldera, SimoneManfreda, AlbertoMarinucci, AndreaMarscher, Alan P.Marshall, Herman L.Massaro, FrancescoMitsuishi, IkuyukiMizuno, TsunefumiNegro, MichelaNg, Chi-YungO'Dell, Stephen L.Omodei, NicolaOppedisano, ChiaraPapitto, AlessandroPavlov, George G.Peirson, Abel L.Perri, MatteoPesce-Rollins, MelissaPetrucci, Pierre-OlivierPossenti, AndreaPuccetti, SimonettaRamsey, Brian D.Rankin, JohnRoberts, OliverRomani, Roger W.Sgrò, CarmeloSlane, PatrickSpandre, GloriaSwartz, DougTamagawa, ToruTavecchio, FabrizioTaverna, RobertoTawara, YuzuruTennant, Allyn F.Thomas, Nicholas E.Trois, AlessioTurolla, RobertoVink, JaccoXie, FeiZane, Silvia
Source
Subject
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Language
Abstract
The accretion of matter by compact objects can be inhibited by radiation pressure if the luminosity exceeds the critical value, known as the Eddington limit. Discovery of ultraluminous X-ray sources has shown that accretion can proceed even when the apparent luminosity significantly exceeds this limit. High apparent luminosity might be produced thanks to geometric beaming of the 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 made the measurement of X-ray polarization in the Galactic X-ray binary Cyg X-3. We find high, over 20%, nearly energy-independent linear polarization, orthogonal to the direction of the radio ejections. These properties unambiguously indicate the presence of a collimating outflow in the X-ray binary Cyg~X-3 and constrain its half-opening angle, <15 degrees. Thus, the source can be used as a laboratory for studying the super-critical accretion regime. This finding underscores the importance of X-ray polarimetry in advancing our understanding of accreting sources.
Comment: 52 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables. Author version of the article published in Nature Astronomy