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American Astronomical Society, Astrophysical Journal, 1(957), p. 55, 2023

DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/acf3e6

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Magnetic Structures and Turbulence in SN 1006 Revealed with Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry

Journal article published in 2023 by Ping Zhou ORCID, Dmitry Prokhorov ORCID, Riccardo Ferrazzoli ORCID, Yi-Jung Yang ORCID, Patrick Slane ORCID, Jacco Vink ORCID, Stefano Silvestri ORCID, Niccolò Bucciantini ORCID, Estela Reynoso, David Moffett, Paolo Soffitta ORCID, Doug Swartz ORCID, Philip Kaaret ORCID, Luca Baldini ORCID, Enrico Costa ORCID and other authors.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Abstract Young supernova remnants strongly modify the surrounding magnetic fields, which in turn play an essential role in accelerating cosmic rays (CRs). The X-ray polarization measurements probe magnetic field morphology and turbulence at the immediate acceleration site. We report the X-ray polarization distribution in the northeastern shell of SN 1006 from a 1 Ms observation with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. We found an average polarization degree of 22.4% ± 3.5% and an average polarization angle of −45.°4 ± 4.°5 (measured on the plane of the sky from north to east). The X-ray polarization angle distribution reveals that the magnetic fields immediately behind the shock in the northeastern shell of SN 1006 are nearly parallel to the shock normal or radially distributed, similar to that in the radio observations, and consistent with the quasi-parallel CR acceleration scenario. The X-ray emission is marginally more polarized than that in the radio band. The X-ray polarization degree of SN 1006 is much larger than that in Cas A and Tycho, together with the relatively tenuous and smooth ambient medium of the remnant, favoring that CR-induced instabilities set the magnetic turbulence in SN 1006, and CR acceleration is environment-dependent.