Mapping the circumnuclear regions of the Circinus galaxy with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer

Ursini F; Marinucci A; Matt G; Bianchi S; Marin F; Marshall HL; Middei R; Poutanen J; Rogantini D; De Rosa A; Di Gesu L; Garcia JA; Ingram A; Kim DE; Krawczynski H; Puccetti S; Soffitta P; Svoboda J; Tombesi F; Weisskopf MC; Barnouin T; Perri M; Podgorny J; Ratheesh A; Zaino A; Agudo I; Antonelli LA; Bachetti M; Baldini L; Baumgartner WH; Bellazzini R; Bongiorno SD; Bonino R; Brez A; Bucciantini N; Capitanio F; Castellano S; Cavazzuti E; Ciprini S; Costa E; Del Monte E; Di Lalla N; Di Marco A; Donnarumma I; Doroshenko V; Dovciak M; Ehlert SR; Enoto T; Evangelista Y; Fabiani S; Ferrazzoli R; Gunji S; Heyl J; Iwakiri W; Jorstad SG; Karas V; Kitaguchi T; Kolodziejczak JJ; La Monaca F; Latronico L; Liodakis I; Maldera S; Manfreda A; Marscher AP; Mitsuishi I; Mizuno T; Muleri F; Ng CY; O'Dell SL; Omodei N; Oppedisano C; Papitto A; Pavlov GG; Peirson AL; Pesce-Rollins M; Petrucci PO; Pilia M; Possenti A; Ramsey BD; Rankin J; Romani RW; Sgro C; Slane P; Spandre G; Tamagawa T; Tavecchio F; Taverna R; Tawara Y; Tennant AF; Thomas NE; Trois A; Tsygankov SS; Turolla R; Vink J; Wu K; Xie F; Zane S
Mapping the circumnuclear regions of the Circinus galaxy with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer

Ursini F
Marinucci A
Matt G
Bianchi S
Marin F
Marshall HL
Middei R
Poutanen J
Rogantini D
De Rosa A
Di Gesu L
Garcia JA
Ingram A
Kim DE
Krawczynski H
Puccetti S
Soffitta P
Svoboda J
Tombesi F
Weisskopf MC
Barnouin T
Perri M
Podgorny J
Ratheesh A
Zaino A
Agudo I
Antonelli LA
Bachetti M
Baldini L
Baumgartner WH
Bellazzini R
Bongiorno SD
Bonino R
Brez A
Bucciantini N
Capitanio F
Castellano S
Cavazzuti E
Ciprini S
Costa E
Del Monte E
Di Lalla N
Di Marco A
Donnarumma I
Doroshenko V
Dovciak M
Ehlert SR
Enoto T
Evangelista Y
Fabiani S
Ferrazzoli R
Gunji S
Heyl J
Iwakiri W
Jorstad SG
Karas V
Kitaguchi T
Kolodziejczak JJ
La Monaca F
Latronico L
Liodakis I
Maldera S
Manfreda A
Marscher AP
Mitsuishi I
Mizuno T
Muleri F
Ng CY
O'Dell SL
Omodei N
Oppedisano C
Papitto A
Pavlov GG
Peirson AL
Pesce-Rollins M
Petrucci PO
Pilia M
Possenti A
Ramsey BD
Rankin J
Romani RW
Sgro C
Slane P
Spandre G
Tamagawa T
Tavecchio F
Taverna R
Tawara Y
Tennant AF
Thomas NE
Trois A
Tsygankov SS
Turolla R
Vink J
Wu K
Xie F
Zane S
Katso/Avaa
Lataukset: 

OXFORD UNIV PRESS
doi:10.1093/mnras/stac3189
URI
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac3189
Näytä kaikki kuvailutiedot
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on:
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2023032232749
Tiivistelmä
We report on the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) observation of the closest and X-ray brightest Compton-thick active galactic nucleus (AGN), the Circinus galaxy. We find the source to be significantly polarized in the 2-6 keV band. From previous studies, the X-ray spectrum is known to be dominated by reflection components, both neutral (torus) and ionized (ionization cones). Our analysis indicates that the polarization degree is 28 +/- 7 per cent (at 68 per cent confidence level) for the neutral reflector, with a polarization angle of 18 degrees +/- 5 degrees, roughly perpendicular to the radio jet. The polarization of the ionized reflection is unconstrained. A comparison with Monte Carlo simulations of the polarization expected from the torus shows that the neutral reflector is consistent with being an equatorial torus with a half-opening angle of 45 degrees-55 degrees. This is the first X-ray polarization detection in a Seyfert galaxy, demonstrating the power of X-ray polarimetry in probing the geometry of the circumnuclear regions of AGNs, and confirming the basic predictions of standard Unification Models.
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