The First X-Ray Polarimetry of an Eclipsing Low-mass X-Ray Binary: Serendipitous IXPE Observation of AX J1745.6–2901
Abstract We present the first X-ray polarimetric measurement of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary system AX J1745.6−2901 conducted by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) satellite. This transient source, located within ∼1 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mover accent="true"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>.</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>′</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:mover> </mml:math> 5 of the Galactic center, was observed serendipitously during a MAXI J1744−294 observation with a duration of 150 ks. The complex nature of the region in which AX J1745.6−2901 is located poses a challenge for studying its polarization. By performing a detailed analysis of the contamination from MAXI J1744−294 and the Galactic center diffuse emission, we find the source polarization degree PD = 14.7% ± 4.0% and polarization angle PA = 122° ± 8°. The phase-resolved analysis shows increase in polarization during the eclipse phase, with PD = 34.2% ± 8.7%, suggesting that the polarization-inducing mechanisms are of scattering nature, probably originating from disk winds.
Authors
- F. Vincentelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1481-1870)
- Jiří Svoboda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2931-0742)
- Juri Poutanen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0983-0049)
- F. Ursini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9442-7897)
- G. Matt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2152-0916)
- Pierre-Olivier Petrucci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6061-3480)
- Adam Ingram (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5311-9078)
- Raul Ciancarella
- Kaya Mori (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9709-5389)
- Lorenzo Marra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4644-194X)
- Francesco Tombesi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6562-8654)
- Fiamma Capitanio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6384-3027)
- Sudip Chakraborty (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4872-8159)
- Maxime Parra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8610-853X)
- A. Tarana
- Andrea Gnarini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0642-1135)
- Jakub Podgorný (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5418-291X)
- Riccardo Ferrazzoli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1074-8605)
- Fabio Muleri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3331-3794)
- Romana Mikušincová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7374-843X)
- Hemanth Manikantan
- Anastasiya Yilmaz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1133-1684)
- Shuo Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3928-8315)
- Barbara De Marco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2743-6632)
- V. E. Gianolli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9719-8740)
- Guglielmo Mastroserio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4216-7936)
- Nicolas De Angelis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2498-0213)
- Vladislav Loktev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6894-871X)
- James F. Steiner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5872-6061)
- Shifra Mandel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6126-7409)
- Alexandra Veledina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5767-7253)
- S. Bianchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4622-4240)
- Swati Ravi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2381-4184)
- Maitrayee Gupta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0976-8932)
- M. Del Santo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1793-1050)
- Sergio Fabiani
- Paolo Soffitta
- Enrico Costa
- Simone Pagliarella
- Roberto Taverna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1768-618X)
Institutions
- University of Rome Tor Vergata (IT)
- Roma Tre University (IT)
- Marshall Space Flight Center (US)
- Universities Space Research Association (US)
- University of Padua (IT)
- University of Turku (FI)
- Astronomical Observatory of Rome (IT)
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Astronomical Institute (CZ)
- Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori di Pavia (IT)
- Brera Astronomical Observatory (IT)
- Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna (IT)
- Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology (IT)
- Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Milano (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Roma Tor Vergata (IT)
- Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US)
- University of Southampton (GB)
- Ehime University (JP)
- Institut des langues et cultures d'Europe, Amérique, Afrique, Asie et Australie (FR)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Columbia University (US)
- Clemson University (US)
- Newcastle University (GB)
- Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology (SE)
- Michigan State University (US)
- National Institute for Astrophysics (IT)
- Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Published
- 2026-06-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae7341
- Primary Topic
- Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
- Marshall Space Flight Center
- Goddard Space Flight Center