In-orbit anomaly and recovery of IXPE detector 2
Abstract
The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a joint NASA-ASI mission launched in December 2021 to measure the linear polarization of celestial X-ray sources in the 2-8 keV energy range. The payload comprises three identical telescopes, each combining grazing-incidence X-ray optics with a focal-plane photoelectric polarimeter based on the Gas Pixel Detector technology. On 14 April 2025, the second detector experienced an anomaly that significantly altered the electrical behavior of the ASIC responsible for reading out the photoelectron track images. In this contribution, we describe the effect of the anomaly on the instrumental response and the actions taken to mitigate its effects and recover the scientific observations of the instrument.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{muleri2026inorbit,
title = {{In-orbit anomaly and recovery of IXPE detector 2}},
author = {Fabio Muleri and Luca Baldini and Sudip Chakraborty and Chien-Ting Chen and Enrico Costa and Ettore del Monte and Alessandro Di Marco and Kurtis L. Dietz and Sergio Fabiani and Riccardo Ferrazzoli and Philip Kaaret and Alberto Manfreda and Stephen L. O'dell and John Rankin and Brian D. Ramsey and Carmelo Sgrò and Paolo Soffitta and Douglas A. Swartz and Allyn F. Tennant and Alessio Trois and Martin C. Weisskopf},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.29920},
eprint = {2610.29920},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.29920},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - In-orbit anomaly and recovery of IXPE detector 2
AU - Fabio Muleri
AU - Luca Baldini
AU - Sudip Chakraborty
AU - Chien-Ting Chen
AU - Enrico Costa
AU - Ettore del Monte
AU - Alessandro Di Marco
AU - Kurtis L. Dietz
AU - Sergio Fabiani
AU - Riccardo Ferrazzoli
AU - Philip Kaaret
AU - Alberto Manfreda
AU - Stephen L. O'dell
AU - John Rankin
AU - Brian D. Ramsey
AU - Carmelo Sgrò
AU - Paolo Soffitta
AU - Douglas A. Swartz
AU - Allyn F. Tennant
AU - Alessio Trois
AU - Martin C. Weisskopf
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.29920
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.29920
AB - The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a joint NASA-ASI mission launched in December 2021 to measure the linear polarization of celestial X-ray sources in the 2-8 keV energy range. The payload comprises three identical telescopes, each combining grazing-incidence X-ray optics with a focal-plane photoelectric polarimeter based on the Gas Pixel Detector technology. On 14 April 2025, the second detector experienced an anomaly that significantly altered the electrical behavior of the ASIC responsible for reading out the photoelectron track images. In this contribution, we describe the effect of the anomaly on the instrumental response and the actions taken to mitigate its effects and recover the scientific observations of the instrument.
ER -