Name | 004935 |
Title | STUDYING THE SMALLEST FLARES ON ACTIVE STARS: PROXIMA CENTAURI |
URL | https://nxsa.esac.esa.int/nxsa-sl/servlet/data-action-aio?obsno=0049350101 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-s3cy089 |
Author | Dr Manuel Guedel |
Description | Proxima Centauri is the nearest star to the Sun, and at the same time a well- studied, magnetically active late-type flare star. It is frequently flaring, with flare energies similar to larger solar flares. There is increasing evidence that flares play a major role in solar coronal heating, in particular the large number of small flares (microflares). This concept needs to be tested on magnet- ically active stars. Selecting the most sensitive instrument and the nearest active star will give access to the lowest-energy but potentially most important X-ray flares ever studied on any star other than the Sun. Our proposal for a 50ks XMM observation of Prox Cen will thus build a bridge from solar concepts to magnetically active stars. |
Publication | No observations found associated with the current proposal |
Instrument | EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2 |
Temporal Coverage | 2001-08-12T03:14:23Z/2001-08-12T22:37:34Z |
Version | 17.56_20190403_1200 |
Mission Description | The European Space Agency's (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) was launched by an Ariane 504 on December 10th 1999. XMM-Newton is ESA's second cornerstone of the Horizon 2000 Science Programme. It carries 3 high throughput X-ray telescopes with an unprecedented effective area, and an optical monitor, the first flown on a X-ray observatory. The large collecting area and ability to make long uninterrupted exposures provide highly sensitive observations. Since Earth's atmosphere blocks out all X-rays, only a telescope in space can detect and study celestial X-ray sources. The XMM-Newton mission is helping scientists to solve a number of cosmic mysteries, ranging from the enigmatic black holes to the origins of the Universe itself. Observing time on XMM-Newton is being made available to the scientific community, applying for observational periods on a competitive basis. |
Creator Contact | https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/xmm-newton-helpdesk |
Date Published | 2002-10-03T00:00:00Z |
Publisher And Registrant | European Space Agency |
Credit Guidelines | European Space Agency, 2002-10-03T00:00:00Z, 004935, 17.56_20190403_1200. https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-s3cy089 |