Artist’s representation of IXPE in Earth orbit. credit: NASA
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The same seat is the remnant of a supernova. Credit: X-Ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optics: NASA/STSCI
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On December 9, IXPE launched its Falcon 9 rocket into an orbit 370 miles (600 km) above Earth’s equator. The observatory arm, which provides the distance needed to focus X-rays on the detector, was successfully deployed on December 15. The IXPE team spent the next three weeks examining the observatory’s ability to maneuver, aim, and align the telescope.
During this test, the team aimed the IXPE at two bright targets for calibration: 1ES 1959 + 650, the galactic core of a black hole powered by jets shooting into space; SMC X-1, spinning dead star, or
What’s next for IXPE?
On January 11, IXPE began observing its first official scientific target – Cassiopeia A, or Cas A – the remains of a massive star that self-exploded in a supernova some 350 years ago in our region.
IXPE will provide details on the structure of the Cas A magnetic field which cannot be observed in any other way. By studying the polarization of X-rays, scientists can determine the detailed structure of its magnetic field and the location where these particles pick up speed.
IXPE’s observations on Cas A will last approximately three weeks.
“Measuring the polarization of X-rays is not easy,” said Weisskov. “You have to collect a lot of light, and the unpolarized light acts like background noise. It may take some time to detect a polarized signal.”
More about the IXPE mission
IXPE transmits scientific data several times a day to an earth station operated by the Italian Space Agency in Malindi, Kenya. Data flows from Malindi to the IXPE Mission Operations Center at the University of Colorado Boulder Space and Atmospheric Physics Laboratory (LASP) and then to the IXPE Science Operations Center at NASA Marshall for processing and analysis. Scientific data for IXPE will be publicly available from the High Energy Astrophysics Research Center at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Marshall’s science operations team also coordinates with the mission operations team at LASP to schedule scientific observations. The mission plans to monitor more than 30 planned targets during the first year. The mission will study distant supermassive black holes with beams of energetic particles that illuminate their host galaxy. IXPE will also probe spacetime warping around a stellar-mass black hole and measure its rotation. Other planned targets include various types of neutron stars, such as pulsars and magnetars. The science team also devoted about a month to observing other interesting things that might appear in the sky or light up unexpectedly.
IXPE is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency with scientific partners and collaborators in 12 countries. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations.
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