The imaging x-ray polarimetry explorer 2.5 years later
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. <br/> <br/> 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.
Authors
- Niccolò Di Lalla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7574-1298)
- Fabian Kislat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7477-0380)
- F. Massaro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1704-9850)
- Jeffery J. Kolodziejczak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0110-6136)
- Juri Poutanen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0983-0049)
- R. Bonino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4264-1215)
- A. Brez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9460-1821)
- Laura Di Gesu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5614-5028)
- Simonetta Puccetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2734-7835)
- Michal Dovčiak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0079-1239)
- S. Ciprini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0712-2479)
- Silvia Zane (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5326-880X)
- L. Stella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0018-1687)
- M. Pilia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7397-8091)
- Allyn F. Tennant (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9443-6774)
- Jeremy Heyl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9739-367X)
- Victor Doroshenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8162-1105)
- Chien‐Ting Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4945-5079)
- Jacco Vink (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4708-4219)
- Herman L. Marshall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6492-1293)
- Ioannis Liodakis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9200-4006)
- E. Costa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4925-8523)
- R. Turolla
- F. Tavecchio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0256-0995)
- G. Matt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2152-0916)
- Massimo Cocchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5822-6852)
- Pierre-Olivier Petrucci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6061-3480)
- Alessandro Di Marco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0331-3259)
- P. Soffitta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7781-4104)
- Alberto Manfreda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0998-4953)
- W. H. Baumgartner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5106-0463)
- Alessandra De Rosa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5668-6863)
- Kinwah Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7568-8765)
- M. Perri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3613-4409)
- Martin C. Weisskopf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5270-4240)
- E. Del Monte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3013-6334)
- G. Spandre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0802-3453)
- Fei Xie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0105-5826)
- George G. Pavlov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7481-5259)
- Roger W. Romani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6711-3286)
- I. Agudo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3777-6182)
- Francesco Tombesi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6562-8654)
- Patrick Slane (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6986-6756)
- Yuzuru Tawara
- Fiamma Capitanio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6384-3027)
- Stephen L. O’Dell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1868-8056)
- Stephen D. Bongiorno (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0901-2097)
- S. Maldera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0698-4421)
- C. Sgrò (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5676-6214)
- V. Karas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5760-0459)
- John Rankin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9774-0560)
- Alessandro Papitto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6289-7413)
- A. Trois (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3180-6002)
- Sergey S. Tsygankov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9679-0793)
- Riccardo Ferrazzoli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1074-8605)
- W. Iwakiri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0207-9010)
- Fabio Muleri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3331-3794)
- Brian D. Ramsey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1548-1524)
- Tsunefumi Mizuno (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7263-0296)
- Ikuyuki Mitsuishi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9901-233X)
- Roberto Taverna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1768-618X)
- Teruaki Enoto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1244-3100)
- R. Bellazzini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2469-7063)
- Javier Agüero García (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6869-1157)
- Stephen Ng
- T. Kitaguchi
- E. Cavazzuti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7150-9638)
- Sergio Fabiani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1533-0283)
- Douglas A. Swartz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2954-4461)
- H. Krawczynski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1084-6507)
- Shuichi Gunji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5881-2445)
- Andrea Marinucci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2055-4946)
- E. Churazov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0322-884X)
- Alan P. Marscher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7396-3332)
- Matteo Bachetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4576-9337)
- C. Oppedisano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6194-4601)
- Simone Castellano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1111-4292)
- P. Kaaret (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3638-0637)
- L. Baldini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9785-7726)
- Ajay Ratheesh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0411-4243)
- O. J. Roberts
- N. Bucciantini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8848-1392)
- Fabio La Monaca (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8916-4156)
- L. Latronico (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0984-1856)
- Nicholas E. Thomas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0411-4606)
- I. Donnarumma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4700-4549)
- L. A. Antonelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5037-9034)
- S. Bianchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4622-4240)
- Frédéric Marin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2049-2690)
- Vicky Kaspi
- Andrea Possenti
- Adam Ingram
- Greg Madejski
- Yuri Evangeista
- Negro Michela
- Melissa Peshe-Rollins
- Toru Tamagawa
- N. Omodei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5448-7577)
- Steven R. Ehlert
- R. A. Sunyaev
- S. G. Jorstad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9522-5453)
Institutions
- University of Pisa (IT)
- Boston University (US)
- Marshall Space Flight Center (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (IT)
- Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory (IT)
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Astronomical Institute (CZ)
- Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg (FR)
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US)
- Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology (IT)
- Geophysical Laboratory (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
Publication Details
- Published
- 2024-08-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3020418
- Primary Topic
- Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical Imaging
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
- Marshall Space Flight Center
- Goddard Space Flight Center