X-ray polarimetry on-board HXMT

Reconstructing light curves from HXMT imaging observations

The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) is a Chinese space telescope mission. It is scheduled for launch in 2015. The telescope will perform an all-sky survey in hard X-ray band (1 250 keV), a series of deep imaging observations of small sky regions as well as pointed observations. In this work we present a conceptual method to reconstruct light curves from HXMT imaging observation directly,...

Hubble Space Telescope far-ultraviolet imaging of the jet in 3C 273: a common emission component from optical to X-rays

We present far-ultraviolet (UV) observations at ∼ 150 nm of the jet of the quasar 3C 273 obtained with the Advanced Camera for Survey’s Solar Blind Channel (ACS/SBC) on board the Hubble Space Telescope. While the jet morphology is very similar to that in the optical and near-ultraviolet, the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the jet’s sub-regions show an upturn in νfν at 150 nm compared t...

Polarization evolution accompanying the very early sharp decline of GRB X-ray afterglows

In the synchrotron radiation model, the polarization property depends on both the configuration of the magnetic field and the geometry of the visible emitting region. Some peculiar behaviors in the X-ray afterglows of Swift gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), such as energetic flares and the plateau followed by a sharp drop, might by highly linearly-polarized because the outflows powering these behaviors ...

X-ray and Gamma-ray Polarimetry

Opening a New Window to Fundamental Physics and Astrophysics: X-ray Polarimetry

An extensive theoretical literature predicts that X-ray Polarimetry can directly determine relevant physical and geometrical parameters of astrophysical sources, and discriminate between models further than allowed by spectral and timing data only. X-ray Polarimetry can also provide tests of Fundamental Physics. A high sensitivity polarimeter in the focal plane of a New Generation X-ray telesco...