NASA launches IXPE mission to explore supernovas, black holes

• NASA launched the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

• A joint effort with the Italian Space Agency, the IXPE observatory is NASA’s first mission dedicated to measuring the polarization of X-rays from the most extreme and mysterious objects in the universe – supernova remnants, supermassive black holes, and dozens of other high-energy objects.

• A supernova is the explosion of a star. It is the largest explosion that takes place in space. 

• A black hole is born when a large star collapses in on itself. Far from being a “hole”, they are instead incredibly dense objects with a gravitational pull so strong that nothing, not even light, may escape them.

• IXPE carries three state-of-the-art space telescopes with special polarization-sensitive detectors. 

• It exploits the polarization state of light from astrophysical sources to provide insight into our understanding of X-ray production in objects such as neutron stars and pulsar wind nebulae, as well as stellar and supermassive black holes.

• Polarization is a property of light that holds clues to the environment from which the light originates. 

• The new mission builds on and complements the scientific discoveries of other telescopes, including the Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA’s flagship X-ray telescope. First light operations are scheduled to begin in January.

• The $188 million mission is an international collaboration between NASA, the Italian Space Agency, along with partners and providers in 12 other countries.

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