Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: 3C 84 is the brightest cluster galaxy in the Perseus Cluster. It is among the closest radio-loud active galaxies and among the very few that can be detected from low-frequency radio up to TeV γ -rays. Here we report on the first X-ray polarization observation of 3C 84 with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, for a total of 2.2 Ms coinciding with a flare in γ -rays. This is the longest observation for a radio-loud active galaxy, which allowed us to reach unprecedented sensitivity, leading to the detection of an X-ray polarization degree of Π X = 4.2% ± 1.3% (∼3.2 σ confidence) at an X-ray electric vector polarization angle of ψ X = 163° ± 9°, which is aligned with the radio jet direction on the sky. Optical polarization observations show fast variability about the jet axis as well. Our results strongly favor models in which X-rays are produced by Compton scattering from relativistic electrons—specifically synchrotron self-Compton—that takes place downstream, away from the supermassive black hole.
Authors: Ioannis Liodakis, Sudip Chakraborty, Frédéric Marin, Steven R. Ehlert, Thibault Barnouin, Pouya M. Kouch, Kari Nilsson, Elina Lindfors, Tapio Pursimo, Georgios F. Paraschos, Riccardo Middei, Anna Trindade Falcão, Svetlana Jorstad, Iván Agudo, Yuri Y. Kovalev, Jacob J. Casey, Laura Di Gesu, Philip Kaaret, Dawoon E. Kim, Fabian Kislat, Ajay Ratheesh, M. Lynne Saade, Francesco Tombesi, Alan Marscher, Francisco José Aceituno, Giacomo Bonnoli, Víctor Casanova, Gabriel Emery, Juan Escudero Pedrosa, Daniel Morcuende, Jorge Otero-Santos, Alfredo Sota, Vilppu Piirola, Rumen Bachev, Anton Strigachev, George A. Borman, Tatiana S. Grishina, Vladimir A. Hagen-Thorn, Evgenia N. Kopatskaya, Elena G. Larionova, Daria A. Morozova, Sergey S. Savchenko, Ekaterina V. Shishkina, Ivan S. Troitskiy, Yulia V. Troitskaya, Andrey A. Vasilyev, Alexey V. Zhovtan, Ioannis Myserlis, Mark Gurwell, Garrett Keating, Ramprasad Rao, Sincheol Kang, Sang-Sung Lee, Sanghyun Kim, Whee Yeon Cheong, Hyeon-Woo Jeong, Chanwoo Song, Shan Li, Myeong-Seok Nam, Diego Álvarez-Ortega, Carolina Casadio, Emmanouil Angelakis, Alexander Kraus, Jenni Jormanainen, Vandad Fallah Ramazani, Chien-Ting Chen, Enrico Costa, Eugene Churazov, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Giorgio Galanti, Ildar Khabibullin, Stephen L. O’Dell, Luigi Pacciani, Marco Roncadelli, Oliver J. Roberts, Paolo Soffitta, Douglas A. Swartz, Fabrizio Tavecchio, Martin C. Weisskopf, Irina Zhuravleva
Institutions: FORTH Institute of Astrophysics, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Marshall Space Flight Center, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg, Université de Strasbourg, University of Turku, Aarhus University, Nordic Optical Telescope, Astronomical Observatory of Rome, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, National Institute for Astrophysics, Goddard Space Flight Center, Boston University, St Petersburg University, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, University of New Hampshire, Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology, Physical Research Laboratory, Universities Space Research Association, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Roma Tor Vergata, Brera Astronomical Observatory, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Astronomy and National Astronomical Observatory, Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Pulkovo Observatory, Instituto de Radioastronomía Milimétrica, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Korea University of Science and Technology, University of Crete, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aalto University, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Milano, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pavia, University of Chicago
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,400
Funders: National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Aarhus Universitet, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, European Commission, National Research Foundation, Academia Sinica, Bulgarian National Science Fund, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, National Research Foundation of Korea, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Universitetet i Oslo, Háskóli Íslands, Turun Yliopisto, Stockholms Universitet, Junta de Andalucía, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Korea Research Environment Open Network, Marshall Space Flight Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, NextGenerationEU
Awards: G1044000631, G1092424111, G1105844351, G1171257612, G1175115578, G1381791653, G1610705197, G1855990336, G1889831420, G1967586197, G210041235, G2262748287, G2266367464, G2309174360, G236304463, G2397945736, G2492639332, G2551911579, G2601397997, G273979858, G278595929, G279363373, G300979063, G3178956404, G3406277477, G34346518, G3480869486, G3518538256, G3528041363, G3545525636, G3681454997, G3690828678, G3696727022, G373897614, G3896919161, G3993203323, G4042783231, G4096230270, G4103929414, G4212894969, G425668148, G430777504, G4353231016, G4493633705, G463062595, G491712853, G4961976892, Opticon RadioNet Pilot, G5080475149, WoU-MMA: Linear and Circular Polarization as a Probe of the Relativistic Jets of Blazars, G5421974903, G5555131222, G5635532810, G5881647929, G5894067328, G5934825213, G5957713366, G5968124160, G6008122062, G6080697404, G624666630, G624877701, G6938466235, G7346357397, G754392931, G7805626310, G7863371703, G834068556, G8497050386, G855041801, G8684520763, G8920660035, G99296377
OpenAlex ID: W4415949725