Conveners
XRB II & HE Polarimetry
- Brian van Soelen (University of the Free State)
I will review our current knowledge about three well-studied jets in X-ray binaries, MAXI J1820+070, Cyg X-1, and Cyg X-3. The first two accrete from their donors onto black holes, while this is likely but not certain in Cyg X-3. Thanks to an extensive multi-wavelength campaign during the recent outburst of MAXI J1820+070, the structure of its compact jet emitting in radio to optical...
Her X-1 is an accreting X-ray binary with well-determined properties based on measurements of light- curves and spectra since its discovery in 1972. Since discovery, it has been observed with most major X-ray astronomy instruments. Observations of Her X-1 over the past decade include those from AstroSat, Swift, and MAXI. These have added to the range of phenomena detected from this system. The...
X-ray binaries (XRBs) comprise of compact objects, black hole or a neutron star, and a companion (donor) star. Depending on the mass of the companion, the XRB is classified as low-mass (Mdonor < 1 M⊙) or high-mass (Mdonor > ∼ 8 M⊙). SAX J1808.4–3658 is a low-mass neutron star XRB, the first accreting millisecond pulsar (AMXP) known. The pulsar was confirmed with the detection of 401 Hz...
The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), scheduled for launch in Fall 2021, will open up the window of X-ray polarimetry. IXPE will be joined by XL-Calibur in 2022, adding 15-75 keV polarimetric capabilities to IXPE’s 2-8 keV coverage.The exciting science topics that can be addressed with IXPE include observations of stellar mass black holes and observations of magnetars. I will report...
The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of some blazars exhibit an ultraviolet (UV) and/or soft Xray excess, which can be modelled with different radiation mechanisms. Polarization measurements of the UV/X-ray emission from blazars may provide new and unique information about the astrophysical environment of blazar jets and could thus help to distinguish between different emission scenarios....
