Extended Data Fig. 9: Detailed geometry of the reflecting funnel, its polarimetric characteristics, reflection and amplification factors.
From: Cygnus X-3 revealed as a Galactic ultraluminous X-ray source by IXPE
(A) Geometry of the funnel is shown with L being the lowest visible point for the given inclination i, and the angle α* is its colatitude. (B) The contour plots of constant PD (in %) for the fixed observer inclination (i = 30∘), as function of the model parameters (α, R). The region above α = i is not allowed because the central source would be visible. The region below ρ = 1 curve (that is \(R=1/\sin \alpha\)) corresponds to an outflow converging towards the axis, which is not possible. Red contours show the allowed model parameters. (C) Dependence of the solid angle of the reflecting surface (Ωrefl/2π, red solid curve) and the factor determining the intrinsic luminosity (1 + ΩULX/Ωrefl, blue dashed curve) on the angle α.
