Review
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
The growth of interest for astronomical X-ray polarimetry
Version 1
: Received: 15 January 2018 / Approved: 7 February 2018 / Online: 7 February 2018 (10:35:37 CET)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Marin, F. The Growth of Interest in Astronomical X-ray Polarimetry. Galaxies 2018, 6, 38. Marin, F. The Growth of Interest in Astronomical X-ray Polarimetry. Galaxies 2018, 6, 38.
Abstract
Astronomical X-ray polarimetry was first explored in the end of the 60's by pioneering rocket instruments. The craze arising from the first discoveries on stellar and supernova remnant X-ray polarization led to the addition of X-ray polarimeters on-board of early satellites. Unfortunately, the inadequacy of the diffraction and scattering technologies required to measure polarization with respect to the constraints driven by X-ray mirrors and detectors, coupled to long integration times, slowed down the field for almost 40 years. Thanks to the development of new, highly sensitive, compact X-ray polarimeters in the beginning of the 2000's, the possibility to observe astronomical X-ray polarization is rising again and scientists are now ready to explore the high energy sky thanks to modern X-ray polarimeters. In the forthcoming years, several X-ray missions (both rockets, balloons and satellites) will open a new observational windows. A wind of renewal blows over the area of X-ray polarimetry and this paper presents for the first time a quantitative assessment, all based on scientific literature, of the growth of interest for astronomical X-ray polarimetry.
Keywords
X-rays; polarimetry; general; history of astronomy
Subject
Physical Sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Comments (0)
We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.
Leave a public commentSend a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment