A polarized view of the young pulsar wind nebula 3C 58 with IXPE
Pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) are among the most efficient particle accelerators in the Universe; however, the physical conditions and magnetic geometry in their inner regions remain poorly understood. X-ray polarization now provides a unique opportunity to investigate the magnetic field structure and turbulence properties close to the sites where high energy particles are accelerated. Here, we report on recent X-ray polarization measurements of the PWN 3C 58 by the International X-ray Polarimeter Explorer (IXPE). 3C 58 is a young system that displays a characteristic jet-torus structure that, unlike those in other PWNe, is observed almost edge-on. This nebula exhibits a high level of integrated polarization, approximately 22%, at an angle near 97°, with an implied magnetic field oriented parallel to the major axis of the inner torus. This suggests a toroidal magnetic geometry with little turbulence in the interior and an intrinsic level of polarization possibly approaching the theoretical limit for synchrotron emission. No significant detection of a polarized signal from the associated pulsar was found. These results confirm that the internal structure of young PWNe is far less turbulent than previously predicted and is at odds with multidimensional numerical simulations.
Authors
- Niccolò Di Lalla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7574-1298)
- Yifei Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9904-3876)
- P. Slane
- Fei Xie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0105-5826)
- Roger W. Romani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6711-3286)
- M. Pilia
- Josephine Wong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6395-2066)
- Shumeng Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2096-6051)
- Michela Negro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6548-5622)
- N. Bucciantini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8848-1392)
- Stefano Silvestri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8665-0105)
- Weimin Ye (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6859-4648)
- N. Omodei
- C.‐Y. Ng
Institutions
- Louisiana State University (US)
- Guangxi University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- National Central University (TW)
- Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory (IT)
- Cyberport (CN)
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US)
- Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Firenze (IT)
- Institute of High Energy Physics (CN)
- Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa (IT)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- University of Florence (IT)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Published
- 2025-05-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202554216
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Geophysics and Gravity Measurements
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.17
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
- Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
- Hong Kong Government
- Marshall Space Flight Center
- Goddard Space Flight Center