IXPE observation of the new magnetar source EP J223759.5+531421

Abstract

We report on the detection of polarized X-ray emission from the new Galactic magnetar EP J223759.5+531421, discovered by the Einstein Probe Wide-field X-ray Telescope on 2026 June 28. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) follow-up observation started on 2026 July 6 and detected the source at a (absorbed) flux of $\approx 4.5\times 10^{-11} \, \mathrm{ erg\,cm^2\,s}^{-1}$ ($2$--$7.5\, \mathrm{keV}$ range), confirming the presence of two thermally emitting regions on the star surface, with temperatures $\approx 0.5$ and $\approx 1\, \mathrm{keV}$. A significant (at $>4\sigma$ confidence level) phase- and energy-integrated polarization degree of $\approx 7\%$ was detected with the polarization angle $\approx -2^\circ$ East of the celestial North. The two thermal components exhibit quite different polarization properties, with the hotter one being more polarized. The difference is larger in the phase-folded data, with the polarization degree reaching $\sim 63\%$ in the range $4$--$7.5\,\mathrm{keV}$, in correspondence with the secondary peak of the pulse profile, and never exceeding $\sim 30\%$ at lower energies. The polarization angle continuously oscillates from $-90^\circ$ to $+90^\circ$ over one rotational cycle and is well fit by the rotating vector model, with an inclination of the line of sight and of the magnetic dipole axis relative to the star spin axis of $\approx 28^\circ$ and $\approx 109^\circ$, respectively. The data point to an emission geometry in which the cold thermal component likely originates from two antipodal caps, possibly in a magnetically condensed state, while the hotter one comes from a smaller region covered by an atmosphere.