kth.sePublications KTH
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Cygnus X-3 revealed as a Galactic ultraluminous X-ray source by IXPE
KTH, Centres, Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics NORDITA.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5767-7253
Univ Coll London, Mullard Space Sci Lab, Dorking, Surrey, England..ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5326-880X
2024 (English)In: Nature Astronomy, E-ISSN 2397-3366, Vol. 8, no 8, p. 1031-+Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The accretion of matter by compact objects can be inhibited by radiation pressure if the luminosity exceeds a critical value known as the Eddington limit. The discovery of ultraluminous X-ray sources has shown that accretion can proceed even when the apparent luminosity considerably exceeds this limit. A high apparent luminosity might be produced due to the geometric beaming of 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 measured the X-ray polarization in the Galactic X-ray binary Cygnus X-3 (Cyg X-3). We found high, >20%, nearly energy-independent linear polarization orthogonal to the direction of the radio ejections. These properties unambiguously indicate the presence of a collimating outflow from the X-ray binary Cyg X-3 and constrain its half-opening angle to less than or similar to 15 degrees. Thus, the source can be used as a laboratory for studying the supercritical accretion regime. This finding underscores the importance of X-ray polarimetry in advancing our understanding of accreting sources.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Nature , 2024. Vol. 8, no 8, p. 1031-+
National Category
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-360070DOI: 10.1038/s41550-024-02294-9ISI: 001411602500001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85201678621OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-360070DiVA, id: diva2:1938166
Note

QC 20250217

Available from: 2025-02-17 Created: 2025-02-17 Last updated: 2025-02-17Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Veledina, Alexandra

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Veledina, AlexandraZane, Silvia
By organisation
Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics NORDITA
In the same journal
Nature Astronomy
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 29 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf