Observations of a GX 301-2 Apastron Flare with the X-Calibur Hard X-Ray 
Polarimeter Supported by NICER, the Swift XRT and BAT, and Fermi GBM

Abarr, Q.; Baring, M.; Beheshtipour, B.; Beilicke, M.; deGeronimo, G.; Dowkontt, P.; Errando, M.; Guarino, V.; Iyer, N.; Kislat, F.; Kiss, M.; Kitaguchi, T.; Krawczynski, H.; Lanzi, J.; Li, S.; Lisalda, L.; Okajima, T.; Pearce, M.; Press, L.; Rauch, B.; Stuchlik, D.; Takahashi, H.; Tang, J.; Uchida, N.; West, A.; Jenke, P.; Krimm, H.; Lien, A.; Malacaria, C.; Miller, J. M.; Wilson-Hodge, C.

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab672c

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Observations of a GX 301-2 Apastron Flare with the X-Calibur Hard X-Ray Polarimeter Supported by NICER, the Swift XRT and BAT, and Fermi GBM

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Beheshtipour, B.
Searching for Continuous Gravitational Waves, AEI-Hannover, MPI for Gravitational Physics, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Abarr, Q., Baring, M., Beheshtipour, B., Beilicke, M., deGeronimo, G., Dowkontt, P., et al. (2020). Observations of a GX 301-2 Apastron Flare with the X-Calibur Hard X-Ray Polarimeter Supported by NICER, the Swift XRT and BAT, and Fermi GBM. The Astrophysical Journal, 891(1): 70. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab672c.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0006-025A-3

Abstract

The accretion-powered X-ray pulsar GX 301-2 was observed with the
balloon-borne X-Calibur hard X-ray polarimeter during late December 2018, with
contiguous observations by the NICER X-ray telescope, the Swift X-ray Telescope
and Burst Alert Telescope, and the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor spanning
several months. The observations detected the pulsar in a rare apastron flaring
state coinciding with a significant spin-up of the pulsar discovered with the
Fermi GBM. The X-Calibur, NICER, and Swift observations reveal a pulse profile
strongly dominated by one main peak, and the NICER and Swift data show strong
variation of the profile from pulse to pulse. The X-Calibur observations
constrain for the first time the linear polarization of the 15-35 keV emission
from a highly magnetized accreting neutron star, indicating a polarization
degree of (27+38-27)% (90% confidence limit) averaged over all pulse phases. We
discuss the spin-up and the X-ray spectral and polarimetric results in the
context of theoretical predictions. We conclude with a discussion of the
scientific potential of future observations of highly magnetized neutron stars
with the more sensitive follow-up mission XL-Calibur.