Astronomers are now equipped with a new pair of eyes in the sky. As of mid-February, the new Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) observation platform, orbiting Earth since late 2021, sent back its first exploration images to scientists on the ground—revealing new scenes of the cosmos with its X-ray eyes. On Dec. 9, 2021, NASA, in conjunction with the Italian Space Agency (ISA), launched IXPE into orbit to examine space like never before. Aboard the Space X Falcon 9 rocket in Cape Canaveral, IXPE was sent into orbit 370 miles (600 km) over the earth’s equator. On Dec. 15, the imaging platform’s boom was successfully deployed, providing the distance needed to focus X-rays onto its detectors. The IXPE team then spent the next three weeks adjusting the telescope’s alignment, maneuvering, and pointing capabilities. These system tests involved the use of two stellar calibrating targets: a black hole-powered galaxy core with jets …