Abstract
The Gas Pixel Detector (GPD) is an X-ray polarimeter to fly onboard IXPE and other missions. To correctly measure the source polarization, the response of IXPE’s GPDs to unpolarized ...radiation has to be calibrated and corrected. In this paper, we describe the way such response is measured with laboratory sources and the algorithm to apply such correction to the observations of celestial sources. The latter allows to correct the response to polarization of single photons, therefore allowing great flexibility in all the subsequent analysis. Our correction approach is tested against both monochromatic and nonmonochromatic laboratory sources and with simulations, finding that it correctly retrieves the polarization up to the statistical limits of the planned IXPE observations.
Abstract
We report on the 2019 XMM-Newton+NuSTAR monitoring campaign of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 2992, observed at one of its highest flux levels in the X-rays. The time-averaged spectra of the two ...XMM-Newton orbits show ultrafast outflows (UFOs) absorbing structures above 9 keV with >3
σ
significance. A detailed investigation of the temporal evolution on a ∼5 ks timescale reveals UFO absorption lines at a confidence level >95% (2
σ
) in 8 out of 50 XMM-Newton segments, estimated via Monte Carlo simulations. We observe a wind variability corresponding to a length scale of 5 Schwarzschild radii
r
S
. Adopting the novel Wind in the Ionized Nuclear Environment model, we estimate the outflowing gas velocity (
v
= 0.21–0.45
c
), column density (
N
H
= 4–8 × 10
24
cm
−2
) and ionization state (
log
(
ξ
0
/
erg
cm
s
−
1
)
=
3.7
–
4.7
), taking into account geometrical and special relativity corrections. These parameters lead to instantaneous mass outflow rates of
M
̇
out
≃
0.3
–
0.8
M
⊙
yr
−1
, with associated outflow momentum rates
p
̇
out
≃
20
–
90
L
Bol
/
c
and kinetic energy rates
E
̇
K
≃
2
–
25
L
Bol
. We estimate a wind duty cycle of ≈12% and a total mechanical power of ≈2 times the active galactic nuclei (AGN) bolometric luminosity, suggesting that the wind may drive significant feedback effects between the AGN and the host galaxy. Notably, we also provide an estimate for the wind launching radius and density of ≈5
r
S
, 10
11
cm
−3
, respectively.
Abstract
The Gas Pixel Detector is a gas detector, sensitive to the polarization of X-rays, currently flying onboard the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)—the first observatory dedicated to ...X-ray polarimetry. It detects X-rays and their polarization by imaging the ionization tracks generated by photoelectrons absorbed in the sensitive volume, and then reconstructing the initial direction of the photoelectrons. The primary ionization charge is multiplied and ultimately collected on a finely pixellated ASIC specifically developed for X-ray polarimetry. The signal of individual pixels is processed independently and gain variations can be substantial, of the order of 20%. Such variations need to be equalized to correctly reconstruct the track shape, and therefore its polarization direction. The method to do such equalization is presented here and is based on the comparison between the mean charge of a pixel with respect to the other pixels for equivalent events. The method is shown to finely equalize the response of the detectors onboard IXPE, allowing a better track reconstruction and energy resolution, and can in principle be applied to any imaging detector based on tracks.
We consider a small sample of oxygen-rich, asymptotic giant branch stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope, exhibiting a peculiar spectral energy distribution, ...which can hardly be explained by the common assumption that dust around Asymptotic Giant Branch stars is primarily composed of silicate grains. We suggest that this uncommon class of objects is the progeny of a metal-poor generation of stars, with metallicity Z ∼ 1-2 × 10−3, formed ∼100 Myr ago. The main dust component in the circumstellar envelope is solid iron. In these stars the poor formation of silicates is set by the strong nucleosynthesis experienced at the base of the envelope, which provokes a scarcity of magnesium atoms and water molecules, required for the silicate formation. The importance of the present results to interpret the data from the incoming James Webb Space Telescope is also discussed.
Some recent studies exposed preliminary but rather intriguing statistical evidence of in vacuo dispersion-like spectral lags for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), a linear correlation between time of ...observation and energy of GRB particles, which is expected in some models of quantum geometry. Those results focused on testing in vacuo dispersion for the most energetic GRB particles, and in particular only included photons with energy at emission greater than 40 GeV. We here extend the window of the statistical analysis down to 5 GeV and find results that are consistent with what had been previously noticed at higher energies.
The Italian Space Agency plays a key role in the fulfillment of space missions, contributing to the scientific, technological and economic progress in Italy. The agency accomplishes space experiments ...by collaborating with scientific and industrial entities, supporting them in the realization of new projects able to achieve, over the last two decades, unprecedented results and obtention of fundamental information on the birth and evolution of the universe. The paper describes a selection of X-ray technologies developed by the synergy between the Italian Space Agency and its principal collaborators which contributed to the main scientific results achieved over the years, together with the latest advances addressed to the next astrophysics missions.
Athena (advanced telescope for high-energy astrophysics) is an ESA large-class mission, at present under a re-definition “design-to-cost” phase, planned for a prospective launch at L1 orbit in the ...second half of the 2030s. It will be an observatory alternatively focusing on two complementary instruments: the X-IFU (X-ray Integral Field Unit), a TES (TransitionEdge Sensor)-based kilo-pixel array which is able to perform simultaneous high-grade energy spectroscopy (~3 eV@7 keV) and imaging over 4′ FoV (field of view), and the WFI (Wide Field Imager), which has good energy spectral resolution (~170 eV@7 keV) and imaging on wide 40′ × 40′ FoV. Athena will be a truly transformational observatory, operating in conjunction with other large observatories across the electromagnetic spectrum available in the 2030s like ALMA, ELT, JWST, SKA, CTA, etc., and in multi-messenger synergies with facilities like LIGO A+, Advanced Virgo+, LISA, IceCube and KM3NeT. The Italian team is involved in both instruments. It has the co-PIship of the cryogenic instrument for which it has to deliver the TES-based Cryogenic AntiCoincidence detector (CryoAC) necessary to guarantee the X-IFU sensitivity, degraded by a primary particle background of both solar and galactic cosmic ray (GCR) origins, and by secondary electrons produced by primaries interacting with the materials surrounding the main detector. The outcome of Geant4 studies shows the necessity for adopting both active and passive techniques to guarantee the residual particle background at 5 × 10−3 cts cm−2 s−1 keV−1 level in 2–10 keV scientific bandwidth. The CryoAC is a four-pixel detector made of Si-suspended absorbers sensed by Ir/Au TESes placed at <1 mm below the main detector. After a brief overview of the Athena mission, we will report on the particle background reduction techniques highlighting the impact of the Geant4 simulation on the X-IFU focal plane assembly design, then hold a broader discussion on the CryoAC program in terms of detection chain system requirements, test, design concept against trade-off studies and programmatic.
We process the Fermi LAT data on GRB130427A using the Fermi Science Tools, and we summarize some of the key facts that render this observation truly remarkable. We then perform a search of spectral ...lags, of the type that has been of interest for its relevance in quantum-spacetime research. We do find some evidence of systematic soft spectral lags: when confining the analysis to photons of energies greater than 5 GeV there is an early hard development of minibursts within the burst. The effect is well characterized by a linear dependence, within such a miniburst, of the detection time on energy. We also observe that some support for these features is noticeable also in earlier Fermi-LAT GRBs. Some aspects of the comparison of these features for GRBs at different redshifts could be described within a quantum-spacetime picture, but taking into account results previously obtained by other studies we favour the interpretation as intrinsic properties of GRBs. Even if our spectral lags do turn out to have astrophysical origin their understanding will be important for quantum-spacetime research, since any attempt to reveal minute quantum-spacetime-induced spectral lags evidently requires a good understanding of intrinsic mechanisms at the sources that can produce spectral lags.
The first black hole seeds, formed when the Universe was younger than ∼500 Myr, are recognized to play an important role for the growth of early (z ∼ 7) supermassive black holes. While progresses ...have been made in understanding their formation and growth, their observational signatures remain largely unexplored. As a result, no detection of such sources has been confirmed so far. Supported by numerical simulations, we present a novel photometric method to identify black hole seed candidates in deep multiwavelength surveys. We predict that these highly obscured sources are characterized by a steep spectrum in the infrared (1.6-4.5 μm), i.e. by very red colours. The method selects the only two objects with a robust X-ray detection found in the CANDELS/GOODS-S survey with a photometric redshift z ≳ 6. Fitting their infrared spectra only with a stellar component would require unrealistic star formation rates (≳2000 M⊙ yr−1). To date, the selected objects represent the most promising black hole seed candidates, possibly formed via the direct collapse black hole scenario, with predicted mass >105 M⊙. While this result is based on the best photometric observations of high-z sources available to date, additional progress is expected from spectroscopic and deeper X-ray data. Upcoming observatories, like the JWST, will greatly expand the scope of this work.
Demography of High-Redshift AGN Fiore, Fabrizio; Puccetti, Simonetta; Mathur, Smita
Advances in Astronomy,
01/2012, Volume:
2012
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
High-redshift AGN holds the key to understanding early structure formation and to probe the Universe during its infancy. We review the latest searches for high-z AGN in the deepest X-ray field so ...far, the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) 4 Msecond exposure. We do not confirm the positive detection of a signal in the stacked Chandra images at the position of z~6 galaxies recently reported by Treister and collaborators (2011). We present z>3 X-ray sources number counts in the 0.5–2 keV band, obtained joining CDFS faint detections (see Fiore et al. (2011)), with Chandra-COSMOS and XMM-COSMOS detections. We use these number counts to make predictions for surveys with three mission concepts: Athena, WFXT, and a Super-Chandra.
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