Work

IXPE Observation of the New Magnetar Source EP J223759.5+531421

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: We report on the detection of polarized X-ray emission from the new Galactic magnetar EP J223759.5+531421, discovered by the Einstein Probe Wide-field X-ray Telescope on 2026 June 28. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) follow-up observation started on 2026 July 6 and detected the source at a (absorbed) flux of ≈4.5 × 10 −11 erg cm −2 s −1 (2–7.5 keV range), confirming the presence of two thermally emitting regions on the star surface, with temperatures ≈0.5 and ≈1 keV. A significant (at >4 σ confidence level) phase- and energy-integrated polarization degree of ≈7% was detected with the polarization angle ≈−2 ∘ East of the celestial North. The two thermal components exhibit quite different polarization properties. The difference is larger in the phase-folded data, with the polarization degree reaching ∼63% in the range 4–7.5 keV, in correspondence with the secondary peak of the pulse profile, and never exceeding ∼30% at lower energies. The polarization angle continuously oscillates from −90 ∘ to +90 ∘ over one rotational cycle and is well fit by the rotating vector model, with an inclination of the line of sight and of the magnetic dipole axis relative to the star spin axis of ≈28 ∘ and ≈109 ∘ , respectively. The data point to an emission geometry in which the warm thermal component could originate from two antipodal caps, possibly in a magnetically condensed state, while the hot one could come from a smaller region covered by an atmosphere.

Source: The Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/aeb4aa