Supergiant shells with diameters approaching 1000 pc may break through the gaseous disk of their host galaxy, and transfer energy and mass into the galactic halo. The Large Magellanic Cloud contains several supergiant shells, among which LMC\,2 has the most spectacular filamentary shell structure and the brightest diffuse X-ray emission. The X-ray emission exists within the optical shell boundary, with an extension beyond the southern shell rim. We propose touse the EPIC cameras on-board XMM to map LMC2 and its southern extension. These data will be analyzed in conjunction with our extensive multi-wavelength datasets in order to study the physical structure of the supergiant shell LMC2 and the role it plays in the global structure of the interstellar medium.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2001-10-19T17:03:40Z/2002-09-26T05:00:04Z
Version
PPS_NOT_AVAILABLE
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, Prof You-Hua Chu, 2005, 'Hot Gas In and Around the Supergiant Shell LMC-2', PPS_NOT_AVAILABLE, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-g0opjk8
