On 3/24/23, American Astronomical Society (AAS) NOVA posted “Investigating Polarized Magnetar Flares” (https://aasnova.org/2023/03/24/investigating-polarized-magnetar-flares/), highlighting IXPE observations of the magnetar (highly magnetized neutron star) J170849.0-40091, showing energy dependent x-ray polarization, increasing from 20% (2 keV) to 80% (8 keV). In other news, The American Astronomical Society (AAS) held the 20th meeting of its High-Energy Astrophysics Division (HEAD) 3/26-30/23. In total, 28 IXPE papers (18 talks and 10 posters) were presented either in the regular program or in IXPE-specific sessions, including a tutorial session on IXPE simulation and analysis tools. MSFC members of the IXPE Science Team presented two of the talks, including “IXPE Mission Overview and Status.”
On 3/28/23, NASA posted “NASA Missions Study What May Be a 1-In-10,000-Year Gamma-Ray Burst” (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/nasa-missions-study-what-may-be-a-1-in-10000-year-gamma-ray-burst), reporting on studies of GRB 221009A, which was observed by several high-energy astrophysics missions—including Fermi, Swift, and IXPE. This news release coincided with a GRB 221009A session at the AAS HEAD meeting and with publication of a focus issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters (https://iopscience.iop.org/collections/apjl-230323-172_Focus-on-the-Ultra-luminous-GRB-221009A), with one article on the IXPE observation.
On 3/29/23, American Astronomical Society (AAS) NOVA posted “Focusing on the Brightest Gamma-ray Burst of All Time” (https://aasnova.org/2023/03/29/gamma-ray-burst-grb-221009a/), highlighting the extensive international campaign to observe this “brightest of all time” gamma-ray burst. The posting included IXPE results, which provided the first observational constraints on the x-ray polarization of GRBs. And on 4/7/23, NASA posted “Historic Nebula Seen Like Never Before With NASA's IXPE” (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ixpe/feature/nasa-s-ixpe-unveils-crab-nebula-s-magnetic-field-structure), reporting on IXPE observations of the Crab pulsar-wind nebula combined with Chandra high-resolution images, published in the journal Nature Astronomy.