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In an X-ray pulsar, a neutron star accretes matter from a stellar companion through an accretion disk. The high magnetic field of the rotating neutron star disrupts the inner edge of the disc, funneling the gas to flow onto the magnetic poles on its surface. Hercules X-1 is in many ways the prototypical X-ray pulsar; it shows persistent X-ray emission and it resides with its companion HZ Her, a two-solar-mass star, at about 7~kpc from Earth1. Its emission varies on three distinct timescales2 the neutron star rotates every 1.2~seconds, it is eclipsed by its companion each 1.7~days, and the system exhibits a superorbital period of 35~days which has remained remarkably stable since its discovery3. Several lines of evidence point to the source of this variation as the precession of the accretion disc4,5, the precession of the neutron star6,7 or both8. Despite the many hints over the past fifty years, the precession of the neutron star itself has yet not been confirmed or refuted. We here present X-ray polarization measurements with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer9 (IXPE) which probe the spin geometry of the neutron star. These observations provide direct evidence that the 35-day-period is set by the free precession of the neutron star crust, which has the important implication that its moment of inertia eigenvalues differ fractionally by a few parts per ten million10. Furthermore, we find indications that the basic spin geometry of the neutron star is altered by torques on timescale of a few hundred days.

The Galactic Center harbors diffuse X-ray emission co-spatial with giant molecular clouds and featuring hard X-ray spectra with a prominent fluorescent iron line at 6.4 keV [1–3]. These spectral properties are characteristic of the reflected emission from a neutral gas illuminated by X-rays. However, there are no persistent X-ray sources in that region that are bright enough to provide the required illumination level. Moreover, the observed diffuse emission is variable on time scales of years [4, 5], implying that the primary source of X-rays must be variable, too. The most exciting and far-reaching scenario is that a very powerful flare from the central supermassive black hole of the Milky Way, Sgr A*, provided the required flux of X-ray photons, when for a period shorter than a few years it became at least five orders of magnitude brighter than is typically observed today. Even if the primary emission was unpolarized, the reflected emission should be polarized in the direction perpendicular to the scattering plane with the degree of polarization being set by the scattering angle. Therefore, by measuring X-ray polarization one can infer the direction towards the primary source and, simultaneously, the mutual positions in space of the source and the cloud [6]. Here, we report the detection of X-ray polarization from the Galactic Center region obtained by the recently launched Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission. For a large region where Chandra and XMM-Newton identify spectral signatures of the reflection, IXPE measures a polarization degree of 31% ± 11% with a polarization angle -48° ± 11° for the scattered continuum. The latter corroborates the conjecture that Sgr A* is the primary source of illuminating photons, while the former implies that some 200 years ago our Galactic Center hosted an extremely bright active galactic nucleus, on par with the ones found in Seyfert galaxies, though only for a short time.

Using observations of X-ray pulsar Her X-1 by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, we report on a highly significant detection of the polarization signal from an accreting neutron star. The observed degree of the linear polarization of ∼ 10% is found to be far below theoretical expectations for this object, and stays low throughout the spin cycle of the pulsar. Both the polarization degree and the angle exhibit variability with pulse phase, which allowed us to measure the pulsar spin position angle and magnetic obliquity of the neutron star, which is an essential step towards detailed modeling of the intrinsic emission of X-ray pulsars. Combining our results with the optical polarimetric data, we find that the spin axis of the neutron star and the angular momentum of the binary orbit are misaligned by at least ∼20 deg, which is a strong argument in support of the models explaining stability of the observed super-orbital variability with the precession of the neutron star.

Advancements in computer-controlled polishing, metrology, and replication have led to an x-ray mirror fabrication process that is capable of producing high-resolution Wolter microscopes. We present the fabrication and test of a nickel–cobalt replicated full-shell x-ray mirror that was electroformed from a finely figured and polished mandrel. This mandrel was designed for an 8-m source-to-detector-distance microscope, with 10× magnification, and was optimized to reduce shell distortions that occur within 20 mm of the shell ends. This, in combination with an improved replication tooling design and refined bath parameters informed by a detailed COMSOL Multiphysics® model, has led to reductions in replication errors in the mirrors. Mandrel surface fabrication was improved by implementing a computer-controlled polishing process that corrected the low-frequency mandrel figure error and achieved

Context. Solar nanoflares are small impulsive events releasing magnetic energy in the corona. If nanoflares follow the same physics as their larger counterparts, they should emit hard X-rays (HXRs) but with a rather faint intensity. A copious and continuous presence of nanoflares would result in a sustained HXR emission. These nanoflares could deliver enormous amounts of energy into the solar corona, possibly accounting for its high temperatures. To date, there has not been any direct observation of such persistent HXRs from the quiescent Sun. However, the quiet-Sun HXR emission was constrained in 2010 using almost 12 days of quiescent solar off-pointing observations by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). These observations set 2σ upper limits at 3.4 × 10−2 photons s−1 cm−2 keV−1 and 9.5 × 10−4 photons s−1 cm−2 keV−1 for the 3–6 keV and 6–12 keV energy ranges, respectively. Aims. Observing faint HXR emission is challenging because it demands high sensitivity and dynamic range instruments. The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) sounding rocket experiment excels in these two attributes when compared with RHESSI. FOXSI completed its second and third successful flights (FOXSI-2 and -3) on December 11, 2014, and September 7, 2018, respectively. This paper aims to constrain the quiet-Sun emission in the 5–10 keV energy range using FOXSI-2 and -3 observations. Methods. To fully characterize the sensitivity of FOXSI, we assessed ghost ray backgrounds generated by sources outside of the field of view via a ray-tracing algorithm. We used a Bayesian approach to provide upper thresholds of quiet-Sun HXR emission and probability distributions for the expected flux when a quiet-Sun HXR source is assumed to exist. Results. We found a FOXSI-2 upper limit of 4.5 × 10−2 photons s−1 cm−2 keV−1 with a 2σ confidence level in the 5–10 keV energy range. This limit is the first-ever quiet-Sun upper threshold in HXR reported using ∼1 min observations during a period of high solar activity. RHESSI was unable to measure the quiet-Sun emission during active times due to its limited dynamic range. During the FOXSI-3 flight, the Sun exhibited a fairly quiet configuration, displaying only one aged nonflaring active region. Using the entire ∼6.5 min of FOXSI-3 data, we report a 2σ upper limit of ∼10−4 photons s−1 cm−2 keV−1 for the 5–10 keV energy range. Conclusions. The FOXSI-3 upper limits on quiet-Sun emission are similar to that previously reported, but FOXSI-3 achieved these results with only 5 min of observations or about 1/2600 less time than RHESSI. A possible future spacecraft using hard X-ray focusing optics like those in the FOXSI concept would allow enough observation time to constrain the current HXR quiet-Sun limits further, or perhaps even make direct detections. This is the first report of quiet-Sun HXR limits from FOXSI and the first science paper using FOXSI-3 observations.