Tag: IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer)

NASA Research To Be Featured at American Astronomical Society Meeting

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6 min read NASA Research To Be Featured at American Astronomical Society Meeting In this mosaic image stretching 340 light-years across, Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) displays the Tarantula Nebula star-forming region in a new light, including tens of thousands of never-before-seen young stars that were previously shrouded in cosmic dust. The most active region appears to sparkle with massive young stars, appearing pale blue. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team From new perspectives on the early universe to illuminating the extreme environment near a black hole, discoveries from…

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NASA’s IXPE Details Shapes of Structures at Newly Discovered Black Hole

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5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) has helped astronomers better understand the shapes of structures essential to a black hole – specifically, the disk of material swirling around it, and the shifting plasma region called the corona. The stellar-mass black hole, part of the binary system Swift J1727.8-1613, was discovered in the summer of 2023 during an unusual brightening event that briefly caused it to outshine nearly all other X-ray sources. It is the first of its kind to…

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IXPE Operations Update

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1 min read IXPE Operations Update On March 23, NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) stopped transmitting valid telemetry data. The only previous interruption of IXPE science observations was due to a similar issue in June of 2023. On March 26, using procedures developed following that previous interruption, the team initiated a spacecraft avionics reset to address the issue, which put IXPE into a planned safe mode. The team has confirmed that IXPE is once again transmitting valid telemetry data and is now working to resume science operations, in as…

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NASA’s IXPE Awarded Prestigious Prize in High-energy Astronomy

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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) An artist’s illustration of the IXPE spacecraft in orbit, studying high-energy phenomena light-years from Earth NASA NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) team has been awarded a top prize in high-energy astronomy. The High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) has awarded the 2024 Bruno Rossi Prize to retired NASA astrophysicist Martin Weisskopf, Italian Space Agency principal investigator Paolo Soffitta, and their team for development of IXPE, “whose novel measurements advance our understanding of particle acceleration…

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