Conveners
IXPE observations and multiwavelength opportunities: Tuesday block 1
- Immacolata Donnarumma (Italian Space Agency)
- Laura Di Gesu (Italian Space Agency (ASI))
- Luca Baldini (University and INFN - Pisa)
IXPE observations and multiwavelength opportunities: Tuesday block 2
- Immacolata Donnarumma (Italian Space Agency)
- Laura Di Gesu (Italian Space Agency (ASI))
- Luca Baldini (University and INFN - Pisa)
Description
Launched on December 9, 2021, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is the first mission entirely devoted to astronomical X-ray polarimetry, and the first providing simultaneous polarimetric, spectral, and imaging capabilities in the 2–8 keV energy band. Through its baseline 2-year mission, IXPE has performed about 160 distinct observations, covering more than 60 unique sources across diverse classes, and, starting from the third year in orbit, the observatory is operating as a General Observer (GO) facility.
This session provides a cross-section of the most relevant scientific results from the prime phase of the mission with a special emphasis on the role of this new diagnostic in the current and future multiwavelength synergy landscape.
With the IXPE satellite a new observational window has opened for the study of the physical properties of Pulsar Wind Nebulae. For the first time we are able to directly map the magnetic field geometry in the inner regions of these systems, where our current theoretical models place the site of particle acceleration. I will review the current status of X-ray polarimetry in PWNe, in the context...
Supernova remnants (SNRs) are among the most important sources of non-thermal X-rays in the sky and likely contributors to Galactic cosmic rays and represent ideal targets to showcase the capabilities of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) in performing spatially-resolved X-ray polarimetry.
For the first time, we can determine the turbulence level (through the measurement of...
The first spectral images of the environment surrounding SgrA* suggested the co-existence of thermalized plasma with extended regions showing the typical spectrum of a “cold” matter irradiated by a flux of hard X-Ray. In 2002 E.Churazov, R.Sunyaev and S.Sozonov proposed to measure the polarization of this reflected component in the brightest molecular cloud around the Galactic Center, SgrB2,...
We present the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) observation of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) 221009A, which reached Earth on October 9, 2022. Although IXPE was not originally designed for this purpose, the exceptional brightness of GRB 221009A allowed it to observe the afterglow emission even after almost 60 hours, providing the first constraints on the X-ray polarization in the 2-8 keV...
Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), the first dedicated astrophysics mission for X-ray polarimetry, has now completed its 2-year prime mission phase, increasing the number of X-ray polarization detections from one to a few dozen, with significant consequences for our understanding of high-energy astrophysical objects. Radio-loud AGN are one of the prime source classes for IXPE, and I...
MAGIC is an imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope that has been observing very high energy gamma rays above 100 GeV for over 20 years. Thanks to its location and low energy threshold, MAGIC is particularly well-suited for observing blazars. Its observation strategy combines the monitoring of a few selected sources with the observation of new targets, often triggered by Target of Opportunity...
I will review the theoretical implications of the IXPE and multifrequency polarimetric measurements of the emission from blazars. In particular, for highly-synchrotron peaked BL Lacs current measurements show a strong frequency-dependency of the degree of polarization, commonly attributed to a stratified emission region, possibly associated to shock acceleration. I will discuss this...
