GT- Luminous supersoft X-ray sources are characterized by soft spectra and highbolometric luminosities of the order of 10^37 erg/s. We propose to observe oneof the brightest of the more than 30 known sources. EPIC and/or RGS X-rayspectra will allow us to derive essential information on the origin of theX-ray emission and thus to distinguish between white dwarf (WD) and neutronstar models. In the case of a WD origin, the modelling of the spectra willprovide measures of the temperature, gravity and abundances which in turnallows to estimate mass accretion rates, WD masses and possibly information onits C+O or O+Ne+Mg composition. This will enable us to test the most popularversion of the WD models, namely the close-binary supersoft source model.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2000-12-16T11:06:35Z/2000-12-19T05:08:08Z
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, Dr Michael Watson, 2002, 'X-ray spectroscopic study of supersoft sources SSC_21', PPS_NOT_AVAILABLE, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-78hhnpa
