The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer 2.5 years later
: Soffitta, P.; Baldini, L.; Baumgartner, W.; Bellazzini, R.; Bongiorno, S.D.; Bucciantini, N.; Costa, E.; Dovčiak, M.; Ehlert, S.; Kaaret, P.E.; Kolodziejczak, J.J.; Latronico, L.; Marin, F.; Marscher, A.P.; Marshall, H.L.; Matt, G.; Muleri, F.; O’Dell, S.L.; Poutanen, J.; Ramsey, B.; Romani, R.W.; Slane, P.; Tennant, A.F.; Turolla, R.; Weisskopf, M.C.; Agudo, I.; Antonelli, L.A.; Bachetti, M.; Bianchi, S.; Bonino, R.; Brez, A.; Capitanio, F.; Castellano, S.; Cavazzuti, E.; Chen, C.T.; Ciprini, S.; Cocchi, M.; Churazov, E.; De Rosa, A.; Del Monte, E.; Di Gesu, L.; Di Lalla, N.; Di Marco, A.; Donnarumma, I.; Doroshenko, V.; Enoto, T.; Evangelista, Y.; Fabiani, S.; Ferrazzoli, R.; Garcia, J.A.; Gunji, S.; Heyl, J.; Ingram, A.; Iwakiri, W.; Jorstad, S.G.; Karas, V.; Kaspi, V.; Kislat, F.; Kitaguchi, T.; Krawczynski, H.; Monaca, F.L.; Liodakis, I.; Madejski, G.; Maldera, S.; Manfreda, A.; Marinucci, A.; Massaro, F.; Mitsuishi, I.; Mizuno, T.; Negro, M.; Ng, S.; Omodei, N.; Oppedisano, C.; Papitto, A.; Pavlov, G.G.; Perri, M.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Petrucci, P.O.; Pilia, M.; Possenti, A.; Puccetti, S.; Rankin, J.; Ratheesh, A.; Roberts, O.J.; Sgrò, C.; Spandre, G.; Stella, L.; Sunyaev, R.; Swartz, D.A.; Tamagawa, T.; Tavecchio, F.; Taverna, R.; Tawara, Y.; Thomas, N.E.; Tombesi, F.; Trois, A.; Tsygankov, S.S.; Vink, J.; Wu, K.; Xie, F.; Zane, S.
: den Herder, Jan-Willem A.; Nikzad, Shouleh; Nakazawa, Kazuhiro
: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation
Publisher: SPIE
: 2024
: Proceedings of SPIE : the International Society for Optical Engineering
: Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray
: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
: 130932I
: 13093
: 978-1-5106-7509-4
: 978-1-5106-7510-0
: 0277-786X
: 1996-756X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3020418
: https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3020418
We have, at last, an observatory dedicated to X-ray polarimetry that has been operational since December 9th, 2021. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a NASA SMEX mission, in partnership with ASI, based on three X-ray telescopes, each equipped with a polarization-sensitive detector in the focus. An extending boom was deployed in orbit, positioning the detectors at the optimal distance from the optics, which have a 4-meter focal length. The spacecraft is three-axis stabilized, providing power, attitude determination and control, transmission, and commanding capabilities. After two and a half years of observation, IXPE has detected positive polarization from nearly all classes of celestial sources that emit X-rays. In this report, we describe the IXPE mission, detailing the performance of the scientific instrumentation after 2.5 years of operation. We also present the main astrophysical results and a few examples of scientific performance during flight.
:
The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a joint US and Italian mission. The US contribution is supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and led and managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), with industry partner Ball Aerospace (contract NNM15AA18C). The Italian contribution is supported by the Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, ASI) through contract ASIOHBI-2022-13-I.0, agreements ASI-INAF-2022-19-HH.0 and ASI-INFN-2017.13-H0, and its Space Science Data Center (SSDC) with agreements ASI-INAF-2022-14-HH.0 and ASI-INFN 2021-43-HH.0, and by the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) in Italy. This research used data products provided by the IXPE Team (MSFC, SSDC, INAF, and INFN) and distributed with additional software tools by the High-Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).
