NASA’s newest X-ray observatory rocketed into orbit Thursday to shed light on exploded stars, black holes and other violent high-energy events unfolding in the universe.
SpaceX launched the spacecraft on its $188 million mission from Kennedy Space Center. It’s called IXPE, short for Imaging X-ray Polarization Explorer.
Scientists said the observatory — actually three telescopes in one — will unveil the most dramatic and extreme parts of the universe as never before.
“IXPE is going to open a new window on the X-ray sky,” Brian Ramsey, NASA's deputy principal scientist, said this week.
Operations should begin next month. NASA is partnering with the Italian Space Agency on the project.
A new study published in the journal Science observed chin strap penguins in Antarctica and found that they take thousands of small naps a day each lasting only about four seconds.
The North American wolverine will receive long-delayed federal protections under a Biden administration proposal released Wednesday in response to scientists warning that climate change will likely melt away the rare species’ snowy mountain refuges.
