IMAGING X-RAY POLARIMETRY EXPLORER (IXPE)
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Context
- NASA launched a new mission named Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer or IXPE.
About
- Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, commonly known as IXPE or SMEX-14, is a space observatory with three identical telescopes designed to measure the polarization of cosmic X-rays of Explorer program.
- The observatory, is an international collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
Aim
- The mission will study exotic astronomical objects and permit mapping the magnetic fields of black holes, neutron stars, pulsars, supernova remnants, magnetars, quasars, and active galactic nuclei.
- The high-energy X-ray radiation from these objects’ surrounding environment can be polarized – vibrating in a particular direction.
- Studying the polarization of X-rays reveals the physics of these objects and can provide insights into the high-temperature environments where they are created.
- The mission’s primary length is two years and the observatory will be at 600 kilometers altitude, orbiting around Earth’s equator.
- This new mission will complement other X-ray telescopes such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency’s X-ray observatory, XMM-Newton.
- According to NASA, IXPE’s polarization measurements will help scientists answer questions such as:
- How do black holes spin?
- Was the black hole at the center of the Milky Way actively feeding on surrounding material in the past?
- How do pulsars shine so brightly in X-rays?
- What powers the jets of energetic particles that are ejected from the region around the supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies?
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