IXPE Proposers Workshop 2025

General Information

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a NASA Small Explorer Mission resulting from the collaboration of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, the Italian Space Agency, and other partners. IXPE has been successfully performing science operations since January 2022, with Cycle 3 General Observations due to start in early 2026.

IXPE provides unique and powerful X-ray polarization capabilities and has been providing crucial insights into our understanding of X-ray production and the geometry of multiple classes of objects such as neutron stars and pulsar wind nebulae, as well as stellar and supermassive black holes, among others. Overall, IXPE provides simultaneous imaging, spectral, timing, and polarization data for 2-8 keV X-rays.

An IXPE proposers workshop will be held virtually on July 23, 2025, at noon to 3 pm (US Eastern Daylight Time). This session is presented to update the community on opportunities to propose for the upcoming Cycle 3 IXPE GO program, highlighting any changes from previous cycles. A description of the IXPE mission and a summary of its major scientific achievements will be presented. Opportunities for participation through the General Observer Program, which supports a broad range of opportunities, will be described in detail in an interactive forum. Presentations on user support services, data analysis and software tools, catalogs and other online resources will also be included, followed by ample time for general questions and discussion.

Registration

Registration is open for everyone at the Registration Page. The meeting link will be sent via e-mail a day before the start of the meeting to all registered participants. There is no fee to participate in the workshop.

Workshop Agenda

Title	Presenter	Time [US Eastern Daylight Time]
Welcome and Introduction	Phil Kaaret	12:00 pm - 12:05 pm
IXPE Science Highlights	Roger Romani	12:05 pm - 12:35 pm
IXPE Mission and Cycle 3 Overview	Phil Kaaret	12:40 pm - 01:10 pm
GO Proposal Submission Procedures	Mihoko Yukita	01:10 pm - 01:30 pm
Tools for proposals and analysis	Douglas Swartz	01:30 pm - 02:00 pm
ixpeobssim for proposals	Niccolo' di Lalla	02:00 pm - 02:30 pm
Q&A	Panel discussion	02:30 pm - 03:00 pm
Video Recording

IXPE Resources Discussed in the Presentations

• ixpe_protractor, ixpestartx, and ixpeproduct are available on this page: https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ixpe/analysis/contributed.html
• ixpeobssim is available on this page: https://ixpeobssim.readthedocs.io/en/latest/