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Published December 2024 | Version Published
Journal Article Open

Evidence for a shock-compressed magnetic field in the northwestern rim of Vela Jr. from X-ray polarimetry

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon University of Würzburg
  • 2. ROR icon Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica
  • 3. ROR icon National Central University
  • 4. ROR icon University of Hong Kong
  • 5. ROR icon National Institute for Astrophysics
  • 6. ROR icon University of Amsterdam
  • 7. ROR icon Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
  • 8. ROR icon INFN Sezione di Pisa
  • 9. ROR icon Nanjing University
  • 10. ROR icon Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory
  • 11. ROR icon University of Florence
  • 12. ROR icon INFN Sezione di Firenze
  • 13. ROR icon Marshall Space Flight Center
  • 14. ROR icon University of Pisa
  • 15. ROR icon University of Tübingen
  • 16. ROR icon University of British Columbia
  • 17. ROR icon University of Rome Tor Vergata
  • 18. ROR icon Sapienza University of Rome
  • 19. ROR icon Observatory of Strasbourg
  • 20. ROR icon Hiroshima University
  • 21. ROR icon Universities Space Research Association
  • 22. ROR icon RIKEN
  • 23. ROR icon Guangxi University
  • 24. ROR icon Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
  • 25. ROR icon Astronomical Observatory of Rome
  • 26. ROR icon Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
  • 27. ROR icon Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari
  • 28. ROR icon Roma Tre University
  • 29. ROR icon INFN Sezione di Torino
  • 30. ROR icon University of Turin
  • 31. ROR icon INFN Sezione di Roma II
  • 32. ROR icon Stanford University
  • 33. ROR icon Astronomical Institute
  • 34. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 35. ROR icon Yamagata University
  • 36. ROR icon Chiba University
  • 37. ROR icon Boston University
  • 38. ROR icon St Petersburg University
  • 39. ROR icon University of New Hampshire
  • 40. ROR icon Washington University in St. Louis
  • 41. ROR icon INFN Sezione di Napoli
  • 42. ROR icon Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • 43. ROR icon Nagoya University
  • 44. ROR icon Louisiana State University
  • 45. ROR icon Pennsylvania State University
  • 46. ROR icon Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble
  • 47. ROR icon University of Turku
  • 48. ROR icon Brera Astronomical Observatory
  • 49. ROR icon University of Padua
  • 50. ROR icon University College London

Abstract

Synchrotron X-ray emission has been detected from nearly a dozen young supernova remnants (SNRs). X-rays of synchrotron origin exhibit linear polarization in a regular, non-randomly oriented magnetic field. The significant polarized X-ray emission from four such SNRs has already been reported on the basis of observations with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). The magnetic-field structure as derived from IXPE observations is radial for Cassiopeia A, Tycho's SNR, and SN 1006, and tangential for RX J1713.7−3946. The latter together with the recent detection of a tangential magnetic field in SNR 1E 0102.2-7219 by the Australia Telescope Compact Array in the radio band shows that tangential magnetic fields can also be present in young SNRs. Thus, the dichotomy in polarization between young and middle-aged SNRs (radial magnetic fields in young SNRs, but tangential magnetic fields in middle-aged SNRs), previously noticed in the radio band, deserves additional attention. The present analysis of IXPE observations determines, for the first time, a magnetic-field structure in the northwestern rim of Vela Jr, also known as RX J0852.0−4622, and provides a new example of a young SNR with a tangential magnetic field.

Copyright and License

© The Authors 2024.

Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Acknowledgement

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a joint US and Italian mission. The US contribution is supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and led and managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), with industry partner Ball Aerospace (contract NNM15AA18C). The Italian contribution is supported by the Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, ASI) through contract ASI-OHBI-2022-13-I.0, agreements ASI-INAF-2022-19-HH.0 and ASI-INFN-2017.13-H0, and its Space Science Data Center (SSDC) with agreements ASI-INAF-2022-14-HH.0 and ASI-INFN 2021-43-HH.0, and by the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) in Italy. This research used data products provided by the IXPE Team (MSFC, SSDC, INAF, and INFN) and distributed with additional software tools by the High-Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). D.P. acknowledges support by the European Research Council, ERC Starting grant “Mapping Highly-Energetic Messengers throughout the Universe”, under contract no. 949555. R.F., E.Co., A.D.M., P.So., S.F., F.L.M., F.Mu. are partially supported by MAECI with grant CN24GR08 “GRBAXP: Guangxi-Rome Bilateral Agreement for X-ray Polarimetry in Astrophysics”. N.B. was supported by the INAF MiniGrant “PWNnumpol–Numerical Studies of Pulsar Wind Nebulae in the Light of IXPE”.

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Additional details

Related works

Is new version of
Discussion Paper: arXiv:2410.20582 (arXiv)

Funding

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NNM15AA18C
Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
ASI-OHBI-2022-13-I.0
Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
ASI-INAF-2022-19-HH.0
Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
ASI-INFN-2017.13-H0
Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
ASI-INAF-2022-14-HH.0
Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
ASI-INFN 2021-43-HH.0
National Institute for Astrophysics
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
European Research Council
949555
Ministero degli Affari Esteri
CN24GR08

Dates

Accepted
2024-10-12
Accepted
Available
2024-12-02
Published online

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Published