Stay Updated about IXPEIf you would like to receive emails about the latest IXPE developments, please send an e-mail to ixpe-announcements-join@lists.nasa.gov. to subscribe to the IXPE email announcements list. If you have scientist-related questions concerning IXPE please contact us using HEASARC's Feedback Form. Please be sure to select "IXPE" as the mailing list so that your question can be routed to the correct help desk promptly. January 2024 - IXPE wins Bruno Rossi Prize!The 2024 HEAD Bruno Rossi Prize has been awarded to Martin Weisskopf, Paolo Soffitta and the IXPE team for their development of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer whose novel measurements advance our understanding of particle acceleration and emission from astrophysical shocks, black holes and neutron stars. The Bruno Rossi Prize is awarded annually in honor of Bruno Rossi "for a significant contribution to High Energy Astrophysics, with particular emphasis on recent, original work" and is the highest honor specifically in high-energy astrophysics. Feb 14, 2022 IXPE first light!IXPE first light image of Cas A!
Launched on 2021 December 09 (06:00 UTC), the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a NASA-ASI mission to measure x-ray polarization from compact objects such as neutron stars and black holes, which serve as laboratories for exploring extreme gravitational and magnetic fields. With its imaging capabilities, IXPE will also map the magnetic-field structure of a few extended sources such as supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae.
On behalf of the international IXPE partnership, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) manages the mission and generates IXPE science data products. The HEASARC hosts the permanent data archive and provides software tools released with HEASoft. IXPE is the product of a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), with major participation from Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Roma Tre University, Stanford University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Other university partners include Nagoya University, RIKEN, and the University of Colorado; primary industry partners are Ball Aerospace (Mission prime) and OHB-Italia (Instrument). For more information, see the About IXPE tab.
Latest NewsThe IXPE Caldb has been updated for the GPD (version 20260112). Please see the release notes for details. Downloads are available from the IXPE Calibration page. Users can also access the HEASARC IXPE caldb via remote access. The results of the IXPE Cycle 3 peer review, held 12-18 Nov 2025, have been approved. The list of recommended targets, and targets sorted by Right Ascension are now available. The due date for IXPE Cycle 3 proposal submission is Sept 11, 2025. Proposals should be submitted via the HEASARC's ARK Remote Proposal System (RPS). For more information about this cycle, please visit the IXPE Cycle 3 Guide for Proposals Page. IXPE's Detector Unit 2 (DU2) is operating in an anomalous but stable and functional state since 14 April 2025. The detector response has changed and the data processing is being adjusted. The spectral response has been corrected. The response for polarimetry and background filtering are being recalibrated. The data for observations after 10 May 2025 are being made available with DU2 event data removed. After the processing adjustments are completed and tested, new data sets will be released to HEASARC with DU2 included. HEASoft 6.35 has been released and contains updates to the IXPE software tools. Please see the release notes for more details. The HEASoft 6.35.1 patch release contains an update to the extractor tool that is important for IXPE users. Downloads are available from the HEASoft page. IXPE users are recommended to use the latest version of HEASoft for their analysis. |
- HEASARC Director: Vacant
- NASA Official: Ryan Smallcomb
- Web Curator: J.D. Myers
- Last Modified: 15-Dec-2025