Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)

Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)
 

News: Recently, a team of researchers has unveiled new light on the explosion of a star in a supernova which occurred more than 450 years ago by using Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer.
 

Background:
 The explosion of a supernova which was named Tycho was visible to people on Earth in 1572, and the shock wave from the blast is still propagating through the cosmos.
 

About IXPE:
 IXPE is an international collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency.
 It studies the most extreme and mysterious objects in the universe – supernova remnants, supermassive black holes, and dozens of other highenergy objects.
 It is the first satellite dedicated to measuring polarized X-rays from objects, such as neutron stars and supermassive black holes, to reveal previously hidden details of the universe.
 

About Tycho:
 The Tycho supernova is classified as a Type Ia supernova, which occurs when a white dwarf star in a binary system shreds its companion star, capturing some of its mass and triggering an explosion.
 Tycho released as much energy as the Sunwould emit over ten billion years and blasted particles out into space near the speed of light.
 Researchers used IXPE to reveal the magnetic field geometry close to Tycho’s shock wave to investigate further how particles are accelerated there.