Scientists from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and India's premier institute, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), have detected polarised emissions from a black hole source using the X-ray polarimetry technique.
The Scientists investigated the X-ray polarization properties of LMC X3, considered an ideal cosmic laboratory to study the X-ray polarization signatures, using Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE).
Polarised emissions may arise from the combined effects of direct and reflected emissions from a partially ionised disk atmosphere, the scientists concluded.
"Intense gravitational fields can cause the emitted light from black holes to become polarized. Our observations indicate that LMC X3 likely harbours a black hole with low rotation rate, surrounded by a slim disc structure that gives rise to the polarized emissions," wrote Dr Anuj Nandi, scientist about the study, which is now published at Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.