Shahriyar Hassan

We're about to acquire a new viewpoint on some of the universe's most extreme objects. NASA launched its Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission, or IXPE, in the early morning hours of 9th December 2021 to analyze X-rays emitted by black holes and neutron stars. The spacecraft, which is the collaborative effort of NASA and the Italian Space Agency, carries three telescopes. While IXPE isn't as big as NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory, it is the first space observatory of its kind. The satellite will be able to see an often overlooked aspect of cosmic ray sources called polarization.