About IXPE

IXPE's two-year baseline IXPE mission will measure the x-ray polarization of cosmic sources, using three identical telescopes, each comprising an x-ray mirror assembly and a polarization-sensitive detector. The mission, a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), is led by the Principal Investigator (PI), Dr. Martin C. Weisskopf at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). MSFC manages the project and is responsible for the x-ray optics and the Science Operations Center (SOC). Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) are responsible for the x-ray instrument. Ball Aerospace is the primary industry partner, responsible for the spacecraft, integration, and testing, as well as managing the Mission Operations Center (MOC) at the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP). In addition to funding the Instrument at INAF, INFN, and industrial partner OHB-Italia, ASI provides IXPE use of its Malindi ground station and software support by its Space Science Data Center (SSDC). The SOC will archive IXPE science data products at the High-Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), for release to the international scientific community.

The IXPE Science Team comprises investigators from MSFC, INAF, INFN, and three universities---Roma Tre University, Stanford University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology---plus over 80 collaborators from more than a dozen countries. During the first two years of the mission, the IXPE Science Team develops and executes the IXPE observing program. If the mission extends beyond two years, the HEASARC will administer a General Observer (GO) program for IXPE.

IXPE science

IXPE accomplishes new science with new capabilities

• Opens a new window on the universe -- imaging (30'') X-ray polarimetry
• Is the science driver that advances and impacts high-energy astrophysics
• Increases information space and lifts modeling degeneracies
• Addresses key questions, providing new scientific results and constraints
• What is the spin of a black hole?
• What are the geometry and magnetic-field strength in magnetars?
• Was our Galactic Center an Active Galactic Nucleus in the recent past?
• What is the magnetic field structure in synchrotron X-ray sources?
• What are the geometries and origins of X-rays from pulsars (isolated and accreting)?
• Provides powerful and unique capabilities
• Reduces integration time by a factor of 100 compared to the OSO-8 experiment
• Simultaneously provides imaging, spectral, timing, and polarization data
• Is free of false-polarization systematic effects at less than a fraction of a percent
• Enables meaningful polarization measurements for many sources of different classes

IXPE observatory

For more information, see:

• the IXPE bibliography
• this presentation
• IXPE Homepage at MSFC
• IXPE mission page at NASA.gov