IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer)

NASA’s IXPE Obtains First X-ray Polarization Measurement of Magnetar Outburst – NASA

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NASA’s IXPE Obtains First X-ray Polarization Measurement of Magnetar Outburst – NASA

What happens when the universe’s most magnetic object shines with the power of 1000 Suns in a matter of seconds? Thanks to NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer), a mission in collaboration with ASI (Italian Space Agency), scientists are one step closer to understanding this extreme event.  Magnetars are a type of young neutron star … Read more

NASA Telescopes Tune Into a Black Hole Prelude, Fugue – NASA

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NASA Telescopes Tune Into a Black Hole Prelude, Fugue – NASA

NASA released three new pieces of cosmic sound Thursday that are associated with the densest and darkest members of our universe: black holes. These scientific productions are sonifications — or translations into sound — of data collected by NASA telescopes in space including the Chandra X-ray Observatory, James Webb Space Telescope, and Imaging X-ray Polarimetry … Read more

NASA’s IXPE Reveals X-ray-Generating Particles in Black Hole Jets – NASA

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NASA’s IXPE Reveals X-ray-Generating Particles in Black Hole Jets – NASA

The blazar BL Lacertae, a supermassive black hole surrounded by a bright disk and jets oriented toward Earth, provided scientists with a unique opportunity to answer a longstanding question: How are X-rays generated in extreme environments like this? NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) collaborated with radio and optical telescopes to find answers. The results … Read more

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

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

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 … Read more

NASA’s IXPE Helps Researchers Determine Shape of Black Hole Corona – NASA

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NASA’s IXPE Helps Researchers Determine Shape of Black Hole Corona – NASA

New findings using data from NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) mission offer unprecedented insight into the shape and nature of a structure important to black holes called a corona. A corona is a shifting plasma region that is part of the flow of matter onto a black hole, about which scientists have only a … Read more

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

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NASA’s IXPE Awarded Prestigious Prize in High-energy Astronomy – 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 … Read more

NASA’s IXPE Helps Researchers Maximize ‘Microquasar’ Findings – NASA

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NASA’s IXPE Helps Researchers Maximize ‘Microquasar’ Findings – NASA

The powerful gravity fields of black holes can devour whole planets’ worth of matter – often so violently that they expel streams of particles traveling near the speed of light in  formations known as jets. Scientists understand that these high-speed jets can accelerate these particles, called cosmic rays, but little is definitively known about that … Read more

NASA X-ray Telescopes Reveal the “Bones” of a Ghostly Cosmic Hand – NASA

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NASA X-ray Telescopes Reveal the “Bones” of a Ghostly Cosmic Hand – NASA

In 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays and used them to image the bones in his wife’s hand, kicking off a revolutionary diagnostic tool for medicine. Now two of NASA’s X-ray space telescopes have combined their imaging powers to unveil the magnetic field “bones” of a remarkable hand-shaped structure in space. Together, these telescopes reveal the … Read more

IXPE Untangles Theories Surrounding Historic Supernova Remnant – NASA

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IXPE Untangles Theories Surrounding Historic Supernova Remnant – NASA

NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) telescope has captured the first polarized X-ray imagery of the supernova remnant SN 1006. The new results expand scientists’ understanding of the relationship between magnetic fields and the flow of high-energy particles from exploding stars. “Magnetic fields are extremely difficult to measure, but IXPE provides an efficient way for … Read more