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 evidencethat flares play a major role in solar coronal heating, in particular the largenumber of small flares (microflares). This concept needs to be tested on magnet-ically active stars. Selecting the most sensitive instrument and the nearestactive star will give access to the lowest-energy but potentially most importantX-ray flares ever studied on any star other than the Sun. Our proposal fora 50ks XMM observation of Prox Cen will thus build a bridge fromsolar concepts to magnetically active stars.
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 Agencys (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) was launched by an Ariane 504 on December 10th 1999. XMM-Newton is ESAs 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 Earths 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.
European Space Agency, Dr Manuel Guedel, 2002, 'STUDYING THE SMALLEST FLARES ON ACTIVE STARS: PROXIMA CENTAURI', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-s3cy089
