arXiv · 2207.06625
Limits on X-ray Polarization at the Core of Centaurus A as Observed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer
Abstract
We present measurements of the polarization of X-rays in the $2-8 \thinspace \mathrm{keV}$ band from the nucleus of the radio galaxy Centaurus A (Cen A), using a 100ks observation from the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). Nearly simultaneous observations of Cen A were also taken with the Swift, NuSTAR, and INTEGRAL observatories. No statistically significant degree of polarization is detected with IXPE. These observations have a minimum detectable polarization at $99 \%$ percent confidence (MDP$_{99}$) of $6.5 \%$ using a weighted, spectral model-independent calculation in the $2-8 \thinspace \mathrm{keV}$ band. The polarization angle $ψ$ is consequently unconstrained. Spectral fitting across three orders of magnitude in X-ray energy ($0.3-400 \thinspace \mathrm{keV}$) demonstrates that the SED of Cen A is well described by a simple power law with moderate intrinsic absorption ($N_H \sim 10^{23} \thinspace \mathrm{cm}^{-2}$) and a Fe K$α$ emission line, although a second unabsorbed power law is required to account for the observed spectrum at energies below $2 \thinspace \mathrm{keV}$. This spectrum suggests that the reprocessing material responsible for this emission line is optically thin and distant from the central black hole. Our upper limits on the X-ray polarization are consistent with the predictions of Compton scattering, although the specific seed photon population responsible for production of the X-rays cannot be identified. The low polarization degree, variability in the core emission, and the relative lack of variability in the Fe K$α$ emission line support a picture where electrons are accelerated in a region of highly disordered magnetic fields surrounding the innermost jet.
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Steven R. Ehlert, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Andrea Marinucci, Herman L. Marshall, Riccardo Middei, Luigi Pacciani, Matteo Perri, Pierre-Olivier Petrucci, Simonetta Puccetti, Thibault Barnouin, Stefano Bianchi, Ioannis Liodakis, Grzegorz Madejski, Fréderic Marin, Alan P. Marscher, Giorgio Matt, Juri Poutanen, Kinwah Wu, Iván Agudo, Lucio A. Antonelli, Matteo Bachetti, Luca Baldini, Wayne H. Baumgartner, Ronaldo Bellazzini, Stephen D. Bongiorno, Raffaella Bonino, Alessandro Brez, Niccolò Bucciantini, Fiamma Capitanio, Simone Castellano, Elisabetta Cavazzuti, Stefano Ciprini, Enrico Costa, Alessandra De Rosa, Ettore Del Monte, Laura Di Gesu, Niccolò Di Lalla, Alessandro Di Marco, Immacolata Donnarumma, Victor Doroshenko, Michal Dovčiak, Teruaki Enoto, Yuri Evangelista, Sergio Fabiani, Javier A. Garcia, Shuichi Gunji, Kiyoshi Hayashida, Jeremy Heyl, Wataru Iwakiri, Svetlana G. Jorstad, Vladimir Karas, Takao Kitaguchi, Jeffery J. Kolodziejczak, Henric Krawczynski, Fabio La Monaca, Luca Latronico, Simone Maldera, Alberto Manfreda, Francesco Massaro, Ikuyuki Mitsuishi, Tsunefumi Mizuno, Fabio Muleri, Michela Negro, C. -Y. Ng, Stephen L. O'Dell, Nicola Omodei, Chiara Oppedisano, Alessandro Papitto, George G. Pavlov, Abel L. Peirson, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Maura Pilia, Andrea Possenti, Brian D. Ramsey, John Rankin, Ajay Ratheesh, Roger W. Romani, Carmelo Sgrò, Patrick Slane, Paolo Soffitta, Gloria Spandre, Toru Tamagawa, Fabrizio Tavecchio, Roberto Taverna, Yuzuru Tawara, Allyn F. Tennant, Nicholas E. Thomas, Francesco Tombesi, Alessio Trois, Sergey Tsygankov, Roberto Turolla, Jacco Vink, Martin C. Weisskopf, Fei Xie, Silvia Zane, James Rodi, Elisabeth Jourdain, Jean-Pierre Roques. 2022-07-14. Limits on X-ray Polarization at the Core of Centaurus A as Observed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357%2Fac8056
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