Pulsar inner gaps are the engines to power radio and high energy emissions.There are two types of gaps, i.e, the vacuum gap and the space-charge-limitedflow gap, and different models predict different levels of polar cap heating.Models can be then tested by observing thermal emission due to polar cap heatingfrom relative slow, old pulsars where this component dominates the spectra. Our target is the famous 1.1s drifting pulsar PSR B0943+10. Its clear driftingpattern supports the vacuum gap model, and refers to a thermal X-ray luminosityof over 1% of the spindown luminosity of the pulsar. We propose a 35 ksobservation to this pulsar to detect the polar cap heating thermal emission,which would have profound implications to pulsar inner gap theories.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2003-05-07T16:35:14Z/2003-12-03T05:39:18Z
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 Bing Zhang, 2004, 'Polar cap heating thermal emission from the old drifting pulsar PSR B0943+10', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-end9b5c
