1st image from NASA’s new IXPE X-ray telescope looks like a ball of purple lightning

IXPE’s first science image shows the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A.  (Image credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/IXPE)

NASA’s newly-launched X-ray hunting probe has snapped its first science image and — wow — it’s spectacular.

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) probe launched Dec. 9, 2021, on a mission to observe objects like black holes and neutron stars in X-ray light, shedding much-anticipated light on the inner workings of the cosmos. The probe spent its first month in space checking out its various systems to get ready to capture its first images, and now the IXPE team has released its very first science image.