The Polarization of X-Ray Binaries in the Ultraviolet. I. Cygnus XR-1, 4U 0900-40, and 4U 1700-37

Details The Polarization of X-Ray Binaries in the Ultraviolet. I. Cygnus XR-1, 4U 0900-40, and 4U 1700-37 The Polarization of X-Ray Binaries in the Ultraviolet. I. Cygnus XR-1, 4U 0900-40, and 4U 1700-37

Feb 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996apj...457..859w&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal v.457, p.859

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

7

Polarization, Stars: Individual Constellation Name: Cygnus Xr-1, Stars: Individual Alphanumeric: 4U 1700-37, Stars: Individual Alphanumeric: 4U 0900-40, X-Rays: Stars

Scientific paper

Cyg XR-1, 4U 0900 - 40, and 4U 1700 - 37 were monitored polarimetrically and photometrically in the ultraviolet (UV) with the High Speed Photometer (HSP) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) at 6-10 different phases during a single binary orbit. Polarimetric observations were obtained in a bandpass centered at 2770 Å; 4U 0900-40 was also monitored polarimetrically in a bandpass centered at 3270 Å. Photometric observations were obtained in a bandpass centered at 2480 Å. The UV polarization is variable in all three systems, consistent with a previously discovered intrinsic component of polarization attributed to scattering of light from the supergiant primary by a gas stream between the primary and the neutron star (4U 0900-40 and 4U 1700-37) or black hole (Cyg XR-1) secondary. The amplitude of the polarimetric variability is much larger in the UV than in the visible, confirming a prediction of the model that identifies Rayleigh scattering as the principal mechanism producing the intrinsic polarization. The polarimetric variability as a function of phase fits the standard scattering model of Brown, McLean, & Emslie only if an additional component of polarization occurs near first quadrature in the two systems with neutron star secondaries.

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