Related papers: Balloon-borne gamma-ray polarimetry
POLAR is a compact space-borne detector initially designed to measure the polarization of hard X-rays emitted from Gamma-Ray Bursts in the energy range 50-500keV. This instrument was launched successfully onboard the Chinese space…
Polarization observations through the next-generation large telescopes will be invaluable for exploring the magnetic fields and composition of jets in AGN, multi-messenger transients follow-up, and understanding interstellar dust and…
We present first results on polarization swings in optical emission of blazars obtained by RoboPol, a monitoring program of an unbiased sample of gamma-ray bright blazars specially designed for effective detection of such events. A possible…
Despite being hard to measure, GRB prompt $\gamma$-ray emission polarization is a valuable probe of the dominant emission mechanism and the outflow's composition and angular structure. During the prompt emission the outflow is…
Synchrotron is considered the dominant emission mechanism in the production of gamma-ray burst photons in the prompt as well as in the afterglow phase. Polarization is a characteristic feature of synchrotron and its study can reveal a…
Evidence of polarized $\gamma$-ray emission ($>$ 50 keV) from Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) has been accumulated in recent years. Measurements have been reported with levels in the range of 30-80\%, typically with limited statistical…
Our Sun is the closest X-ray astrophysical source to Earth. As such, it makes a formidable case study to better understand astrophysical processes. Solar flares are in particular very interesting as they are linked to coronal mass ejections…
We propose that the polarization of the emission from the X-ray binary Cygnus X-1, measured using the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), is imprinted by bulk Comptonization of coronal emission in a mildly relativistic wind or jet…
The development of the first X-ray polarimeter, based on the photoelectric effect 20 years ago and implemented thanks to advances in gas amplification structures and readout techniques, had a significant impact in opening a new window for…
In the first half year of operation the satellite borne POLAR instrument detected a total of 55 Gamma-Ray Bursts about 10 of which were bright enough to allow for detailed polarization studies, thereby forming the start of the first…
Gamma-ray bursts and their afterglows are thought to be produced by an ultrarelativistic jet. One of the most important open questions is the outflow composition: the energy may be carried out from the central source either as kinetic…
X-ray astronomy allows study of objects which may be associated with compact objects, i.e. neutron stars or black holes, and also may contain strong magnetic fields. Such objects are categorically non-spherical, and likely non-circular when…
A possible birefringence effect that arises in quantum gravity leads to a frequency-dependent rotation of the polarization angle of linearly polarized emission from distant sources. Here we use the UV/optical polarization data of the…
X-ray polarimetry is a fine tool to probe the accretion geometry and physical processes operating in the proximity of compact objects, black holes and neutron stars. Recent discoveries made by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer put our…
The origin of the high-energy emission in astrophysical jets from black holes is a highly debated issue. This is particularly true for jets from supermassive black holes that are among the most powerful particle accelerators in the…
A new astronomical photo-polarimeter that can measure linear polarization of point sources simultaneously in three spectral bands was designed and built in Indian Institute of Astrophysics. The polarimeter has a Calcite beam-displacement…
XPoSat is India's first X-ray spectro-polarimetry mission, consisting of two co-aligned instruments, a polarimeter (POLIX) and a spectrometer (XSPECT), to study the X-ray emission from celestial sources. Since polarimetry is a photon-hungry…
The LSPE is a balloon-borne mission aimed at measuring the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at large angular scales, and in particular to constrain the curl component of CMB polarization (B-modes) produced by tensor…
The CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) project is a CubeSat mission planned for a launch in low-Earth orbit and aimed to measure the linear polarization of solar flares in the hard X-ray band by means of a Compton scattering polarimeter. CUSP…
The balloon-borne hard X-ray polarimetry mission XL-Calibur observed the Black Hole X-ray Binary (BHXRB) Cygnus X-1 (Cyg X-1) during its nearly six-day Long Duration Balloon (LDB) flight from Sweden to Canada in July 2024. The XL-Calibur…