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The Polarized Cosmic Hand: IXPE Observations of PSR B1509−58/MSH 15−52

Romani, RW; Wong, J; Di Lalla, N; Omodei, N; Xie, F; Ng, CY; Ferrazzoli, R; ... Turolla, R; + view all (2023) The Polarized Cosmic Hand: IXPE Observations of PSR B1509−58/MSH 15−52. Astrophysical Journal , 957 (1) , Article 23. 10.3847/1538-4357/acfa02. Green open access

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Abstract

We describe IXPE polarization observations of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) MSH 15−52, the “Cosmic Hand.” We find X-ray polarization across the PWN, with B-field vectors generally aligned with filamentary X-ray structures. High-significance polarization is seen in arcs surrounding the pulsar and toward the end of the “jet,” with polarization degree PD > 70%, thus approaching the maximum allowed synchrotron value. In contrast, the base of the jet has lower polarization, indicating a complex magnetic field at significant angle to the jet axis. We also detect significant polarization from PSR B1509−58 itself. Although only the central pulse phase bin of the pulse has high individual significance, flanking bins provide lower-significance detections and, in conjunction with the X-ray image and radio polarization, can be used to constrain rotating vector model solutions for the pulsar geometry.

Type: Article
Title: The Polarized Cosmic Hand: IXPE Observations of PSR B1509−58/MSH 15−52
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/acfa02
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acfa02
Language: English
Additional information: Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10182364
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