Published in

arXiv, 2023

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2303.12541

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Uncovering the geometry of the hot X-ray corona in the Seyfert galaxy NGC4151 with IXPE

Journal article published in 2023 by V. E. Gianolli ORCID, D. E. Kim ORCID, S. Bianchi, B. Agís-González, G. Madejski, F. Marin, A. Marinucci, G. Matt, R. Middei, P.-O. Petrucci, P. Soffitta, D. Tagliacozzo, F. Tombesi, F. Ursini, T. Barnouin and other authors.
This paper was not found in any repository; the policy of its publisher is unknown or unclear.
This paper was not found in any repository; the policy of its publisher is unknown or unclear.

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Abstract

We present an X-ray spectro-polarimetric analysis of the bright Seyfert galaxy NGC4151. The source has been observed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) for 700 ks, complemented with simultaneous XMM-Newton (50 ks) and NuSTAR (100 ks) pointings. A polarization degree $Π = 4.9 {±} 1.1 \%$ and angle $Ψ= 86° {±} 7°$ east of north ($68\%$ confidence level) are measured in the 2-8 keV energy range. The spectro-polarimetric analysis shows that the polarization could be entirely due to reflection. Given the low reflection flux in the IXPE band, this requires however a reflection with a very large ($> 38 \%$) polarization degree. Assuming more reasonable values, a polarization degree of the hot corona ranging from ${∼}4$ to ${∼}8\%$ is found. The observed polarization degree excludes a spherical lamppost geometry for the corona, suggesting instead a slab-like geometry, possibly a wedge, as determined via Monte Carlo simulations. This is further confirmed by the X-ray polarization angle, which coincides with the direction of the extended radio emission in this source, supposed to match the disc axis. NGC4151 is the first AGN with an X-ray polarization measure for the corona, illustrating the capabilities of X-ray polarimetry and IXPE in unveiling its geometry.