In-orbit monitoring of the imaging x-ray polarimeters on-board IXPE

A. Di Marco; F. Muleri; S. Fabiani; F. La Monaca; J. Rankin; P. Soffitta; L. Baldini; E. Costa; E. Del Monte; R. Ferrazzoli; C. Lefevre; L. Maiolo; F. Maita; A. Manfreda; A. Morbidini; S. L. O'Dell; B. D. Ramsey; A. Ratheesh; C. Sgro'; A. Trois; A. F. Tennant; M. C. Weisskopf

doi:10.1117/12.2629413

31 August 2022 In-orbit monitoring of the imaging x-ray polarimeters on-board IXPE

A. Di Marco, F. Muleri, S. Fabiani, F. La Monaca, J. Rankin, P. Soffitta, L. Baldini, E. Costa, E. Del Monte, R. Ferrazzoli, C. Lefevre, L. Maiolo, F. Maita, A. Manfreda, A. Morbidini, S. L. O'Dell, B. D. Ramsey, A. Ratheesh, C. Sgro', A. Trois, A. F. Tennant, M. C. Weisskopf

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12181, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 121811C (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2629413
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Abstract

The imaging x-ray polarimetry explorer (IXPE) was launched on December 9, 2021, from Cape Canaveral into a low-Earth equatorial orbit. The mission, led by NASA in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), features three identical telescopes, each with an imaging x-ray photoelectric polarimeter at the focus of an x-ray mirror assembly. Each focal-plane detector includes a set of four calibration sources powered by a ⁵⁵Fe nuclide to monitor the detector’s performance. Of these sources, one produces polarized x-rays at two energies and the remaining three generate unpolarized radiation. Here we present the status of this monitoring program, starting from installation of the flight nuclides before on-ground environmental testing of the observatory through recent on-orbit measurements during science operations.

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A. Di Marco, F. Muleri, S. Fabiani, F. La Monaca, J. Rankin, P. Soffitta, L. Baldini, E. Costa, E. Del Monte, R. Ferrazzoli, C. Lefevre, L. Maiolo, F. Maita, A. Manfreda, A. Morbidini, S. L. O'Dell, B. D. Ramsey, A. Ratheesh, C. Sgro', A. Trois, A. F. Tennant, and M. C. Weisskopf "In-orbit monitoring of the imaging x-ray polarimeters on-board IXPE", Proc. SPIE 12181, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 121811C (31 August 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2629413

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