NASA shows a star that exploded in the 17th century | Digital Trends Spanish

NASA has shared the first images captured by its X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer, known as IXPE, which was launched into space in December last year.

This first record offered a glimpse of Cassiopeia A, the remains of a star that exploded in the 17th century.

According to the NASA site, shock waves from the explosion have swept away the surrounding gas, heating it to high temperatures and accelerating cosmic ray particles to form a cloud that glows with X-ray light.

In the image released by the government office, the magenta color saturation is due to the intensity of the X-ray light recorded by IXPE.

The researchers then overlaid data from Chandra, another X-ray observatory. So this record also shows high-energy X-rays that show up in blue.

“The IXPE image of Cassiopeia A is as historic as the Chandra image of the same supernova remnant,” said Martin C. Weisskopf, IXPE Principal Investigator.

“It demonstrates the potential of IXPE to obtain new, never-before-seen information on Cassiopeia A, which is currently under analysis.”

Scientists now want to implement a process known as polarization, which will make it possible to observe how X-ray light is oriented as it travels through space.

The polarization of light provides information about the environment in which the light originated. IXPE’s instruments are also capable of measuring the energy, arrival time and position in the sky of X-rays from cosmic sources.

“The IXPE image of Cassiopeia A is gorgeous, and we look forward to analyzing the polarimetry data to learn even more about this supernova remnant,” explained Paolo Soffitta, IXPE principal investigator at the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in Rome.

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