The study of hot halos in elliptical galaxies has raised two major problems:what is responsible for the very large scatter in the size and density of thesehalos, and how can the gas have such a low apparent metallicity These twoproblems come together in the case of large ellipticals with low X-rayluminosities, since these are at one extreme of the X-ray scatter, and alsoappear to have the lowest metal abundances, well below the metallicity of theircomponent stars. XMM has the sensitivity required to study the emission fromthese galaxies in detail for the first time. Our proposed study of a sample offive of the most extreme examples of low X-ray luminosity large ellipticals,should help to resolve both problems, with important implications for galaxy
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2001-12-04T08:01:19Z/2001-12-28T00:35:29Z
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 Trevor Ponman, 2003, 'Hot halos in faint elliptical galaxies', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-yrjzjpo
