NASA to launch a new X-ray telescope designed to solve the mysteries of black holes

(CNN) – We are about to get a new perspective on some of the most extreme objects in the universe. In the early morning hours of December 9, NASA will launch its Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, or IXPE, mission to measure the X-rays released by black holes and neutron stars.

The satellite is scheduled to launch at 1 a.m. Thursday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Live coverage of the launch will be available on NASA TV and on the agency’s website.

The spacecraft, which is the collaborative effort of NASA and the Italian Space Agency, carries three telescopes. Although the IXPE mission is not as large as NASA’s Chandra X-ray observatory, it is the first space observatory of its kind. The satellite will be able to observe an aspect of cosmic ray sources that is often overlooked called polarization.

Advances in X-ray astronomy

“The IXPE launch marks a unique and bold step for X-ray astronomy,” said Martin Weisskopf, IXPE principal investigator, in a statement. “IXPE will tell us more about the precise nature of cosmic X-ray sources than we can learn by just studying their brightness and color spectrum.”

X-rays are a very energetic wavelength of light that comes from the extremes. In space, this includes powerful magnetic fields, collisions between objects, explosions, scorching temperatures, and rapid rotations. This light is practically encoded with the signature of what has created it, but the Earth’s atmosphere prevents X-rays from reaching the ground. That is why scientists turn to X-ray telescopes in space.

Polarized light also bears the unique stamp of its source and what it passed through on the way. While light waves can vibrate in any direction, polarized light only vibrates in one direction.

Understand extreme cosmic objects

Using IXPE to study the polarization of cosmic X-rays could help scientists better understand the remains of exploded stars, such as black holes and neutron stars, their environments, and how they produce X-rays. The perspective of extreme cosmic objects could also reveal the answers to broader fundamental questions about physics.

“IXPE will help us test and refine our theories about how the universe works,” says Weisskopf. “There may be even more exciting answers than we’ve hypothesized. Better yet, we may find entire lists of new questions to ask!”

The satellite’s eyes on the universe include sensitive polarization detectors, made in Italy. Telescopes will observe the X-rays and feed them into detectors, which can capture images of the X-rays and measure their polarization.

“This is going to be a pioneer in terms of X-ray data acquisition,” Weisskopf said. “We will analyze the results for decades.”