Fall 2021 Plenary: The X-ray Polarimeter Mission XPoSat

November 16 , 9am - 10am EST

The X-ray Polarimeter Mission XPoSat

Biswajit Paul (Raman Research Institute)


XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite) is a mission dedicated for study of polarisation of cosmic X-ray sources. The X-ray polarisation measurements will be carried out with a Thomson scattering X-ray polarimeter instrument POLIX and simultaneous timing and spectroscopic measurements will be carried out with a co-aligned semiconductor based X-ray detectors system XSPECT. Energy bands of the two X-ray instruments are 8-30 keV for POLIX and 0.8-15.0 for XSEPCT. The polarisation measurement will be performed using anisotropic Thomson scattering of polarized X-rays and this will be enabled by spinning the satellite around the viewing axis of POLIX during the source observations. Being a dedicated X-ray polarisation mission in this unexplored energy band, XPoSat is poised to give us glimpses of a new frontier in high energy astrophysics and also allow many in-depth investigations of astrophysical processes in neutron stars and black hole sources. The instrument designs, some special aspects of the mission, and  some of the key scientific issues will be discussed.

Fall WG meeting, November 8-10th, 2021

Date: November 8  – 10th, (9:00-11:00 EST/14:00-16:00 UTC)

We are very pleased to announce our second Working Group meeting this year. At the meeting, the Working Groups will report on the their progress and future plans, and we invite everyone to come join in our discussions and look forward to hearing from you. For more details on the meeting and how to join please see https://iachec.org/fall-virtual-meeting-2021/ 

We are also very pleased to announce our Fall Plenary: November 16th (9:00 – 10:00 EST/14:00 – 15:00 UTC)

The X-ray Polarimeter Mission XPoSat by Biswajit Paul (Raman Research Institute). 

XPoSat is a mission dedicated for the study of polarization of cosmic X-ray sources. See full abstract.

15th IACHEC in-person meeting cancelled

After careful consideration, we have decided to cancel the in-person meeting at the Mountain Lake Lodge in Pembroke, VA, scheduled for May 22-26, 2022. The decision was made because we did not feel we could adequately ensure everyones safety in this continued pandemic environment due to low vaccination rates in the area, and because of continued travel restrictions at many institutions, which would limit international participation. It was also an economic decision, as the IACHEC is not capable of transferring funds between meetings and unable to absorb the impact of a meeting with lower than expected participation.

We have instead, hopefully, for the last time, converted into a virtual meeting on the days May 23-25, 2022, and direct you to the details here.

If you paid for this meeting in advance, please contact Trish Dobson at trish@eurekasci.com and she will arrange for a full or partial refund depending on your needs. 

15th IACHEC meeting rescheduled for April 26-29, 2021

In light of the continued troubled times and the uncertainty of when our institutions may allow travel again, we are postponing the 15th IACHEC meeting for next year on April 2629, 2021. We will still be meeting at the Mountain Lodge in Pembroke, VA, and if you had already booked a room the reservation will be automatically moved to the new date.

For the rest of 2020, the individual working groups will be organizing online meetings, and later this year we plan to be hosting a summary meeting along with a special plenary. Dates are still to be determined so keep an eye out for the announcement.

15th IACHEC meeting rescheduled for September 21-24, 2020

We are pleased to announce that the 15th IACHEC meeting has been rescheduled for September 21-24, 2020. We will still be meeting at the Mountain Lodge in Pembroke, VA, and if you already made room reservations, you should have received an email today saying that your reservation has been moved to the new dates. 

We will be reopening the registration again for the new dates in a few weeks.