In 2017, it was first announced that IXPE is the first satellite capable of measuring the polarization of X-rays and coming from cosmic rays like black holes and neutron stars.
Do you know? The fridge-sized satellite has around three telescopes and this can track and measure the direction, arrival time, energy, and polarization of light. When all of the data from the telescopes is combined, NASA will be able to form all the images and can give us proper insight into how mysterious celestial objects are. It has been hoped that it will give us a more thorough look at the structure of the Crab Nebula- a supernova remnant that can rapidly spin the center.
By observing all the black holes, the IXPE is going to help the satellites so that they can gain more insight and broaden humanity’s knowledge. It will also help in providing more and more clues on why they spin and how they gobble up cosmic materials. This can lead to many new discoveries as well. Martin Weisskopf- the principal investigator has said that ‘IXPE is going to test and refine our current theories about how the universe is working and much more than this.’ We can also discover many more exciting theories about all the objects that are there in the universe.
SpaceX has used a Falcon 9 rocket through the previous mission for the launch. If each and everything goes well, the rocket’s first stage is going to land on the company’s drone ship, after ferrying IXPE to space. Meanwhile, the telescope is going to help scientists a lot because it can observe all the black holes.
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