# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ-anIEpyG2
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/11733002-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/f1b5424c11.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-02-14T22:55:46.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

🌹Our “First Impression Rose” goes to … Cas A!

On Dec. 9, 2021, NASAKennedy launched our Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) and we’re heart-eyes over its first science image since completing its month-long commissioning phase – just in time for Valentine’s Day.

IXPE laid its X-ray eyes on Cassiopeia A, the remains of a distant stellar explosion known as a supernova remnant. The shockwaves of the supernova swept up surrounding gas, heating and accelerating cosmic particles to create the cloud seen here glowing in X-ray light.

While other telescopes have observed Cas A before, IXPE will study the remnant in polarized light, a way of looking at how light is oriented as it travels through space. IXPE's unique telescopes will give us new ways to measure the spin of a black hole, track the magnetic fields of pulsars, and study some of the most mysterious and extreme objects in the universe. In this image, IXPE data in magenta overlays the high energy X-ray data, shown in blue, from our NASAChandraXRay Observatory.

Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/IXPE


#NASA #CassiopeiaA #IXPE #SolarSystem #Xray #Space #Supernova #ValentinesDay #Polarize #LoveAtFirstSight

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## Tags

nasa, loveatfirstsight, polarize, xray, space, supernova, valentinesday, ixpe, solarsystem, cassiopeiaa

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