Kavli Affiliate: Herman L. Marshall
| First 5 Authors: Ping Zhou, Dmitry Prokhorov, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Yi-Jung Yang, Patrick Slane
| Summary:
Young supernova remnants (SNRs) strongly modify surrounding magnetic fields,
which in turn play an essential role in accelerating cosmic rays (CRs). 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 SN1006 from a 1 Ms observation with the Imaging X-ray
Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). We found an average polarization degree of
$22.4pm 3.5%$ and an average polarization angle of $-45.4pm 4.5^circ$
(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 turbulence in SN 1006 and CR
acceleration is environment-dependent.
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