Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)

About Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE):

• It is a NASA Small Explorer Mission in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
• IXPE was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on December 9, 2021. 
• IXPE is NASA’s first mission to study the polarization of X-rays from many different types of celestial objects.
  • Objects such as black holes can heat surrounding gases to more than a million degrees. The high-energy X-ray radiation from this gas can be polarized – vibrating in a particular direction.
• The observatory features three identical telescopes, each consisting of a mirror module assembly with a polarization-sensitive imaging x-ray detector at the focus. 
• IXPE measurements will provide new dimensions for probing a wide range of cosmic X-ray sources - including active galactic nuclei (AGN) and microquasars, pulsars and pulsar wind nebulae, magnetars, accreting X-ray binaries, supernova remnants, and the Galactic center. 

Q1: What is an active galactic nucleus (AGN)?

An AGN is an extremely bright central region of a galaxy that is dominated by the light emitted by dust and gas as it falls into a black hole. The extremely luminous central region is emitting so much radiation that it can outshine the rest of the galaxy altogether. AGNs emit radiation across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays.

News: NASA’s space observatory probes exotic X-ray binary system