IXPE Stories

NASA’s IXPE Helps Researchers Determine Shape of Black Hole Corona

5 min read

New findings using data from NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) mission offer unprecedented insight into the shape and nature of a structure important to black holes called a corona. A corona is a shifting plasma region that is part…

Article1 month ago
A young woman holds a water bottle in front of a doorway with the words "Mission Operations Center" overhead.

How Students Learn to Fly NASA’s IXPE Spacecraft

5 min read

The large wall monitor displaying a countdown shows 17 seconds when Amelia “Mia” De Herrera-Schnering tells her teammates “We have AOS,” meaning “acquisition of signal.” “Copy that, thank you,” Alexander Pichler replies. The two are now in contact with NASA’s…

Article3 months ago

IXPE Operations Update

1 min read

Editor’s Note, April 3, 2024: IXPE resumed normal science operations on April 3. Learn more https://blogs.nasa.gov/ixpe/2024/04/03/ixpe-operations-update-2/. On March 23, NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) stopped transmitting valid telemetry data. The only previous interruption of IXPE science observations was due…

Article8 months ago