NASA’S IXPE Helps Unlock the Secrets of Famous Exploded Star

A team of astronomers, led by the UvA's Jacco Vink, has measured and mapped polarized X-rays from the remains of an exploded star, using NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). The findings, which come from observations of a stellar remnant called Cassiopeia A, shed new light on the nature of young supernova remnants, which accelerate particles close to the speed of light.