The Guitar's Magnetic Field Revealed by Starlight Polarization

TL;DR

This study uses stellar polarization data to map the magnetic field in the Guitar nebula, revealing alignment with the pulsar filament and providing insights into the nebula's magnetic structure.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel application of stellar polarization measurements to infer the magnetic field orientation in the Guitar nebula.

Findings

Magnetic field angle aligns with the pulsar filament.

Magnetic field orientation consistent with the nebula's filament.

Detection of magnetic field using dust polarization data.

Abstract

The Guitar nebula surrounding PSR B2224+65 boasts a pulsar X-ray filament likely aligned with the local magnetic field. We present new RoboPol stellar polarization data distributed along the line-of-sight to the pulsar. The polarizing effect of intervening magnetized dust allows us to extract a model for the dust-weighted magnetic field. We detect a magnetic field angle consistent with the filament if the pulsar is located in the more distant zone of its parallax-estimated distance range.