XMM observations of young elliptical galaxies will determine if they have hotgas in their ISM. Many old, relaxed ellipticals posess such hot gaseous haloes,however the mechanism by which these are created is not understood. Suggestionsare that the hot haloes formed from stellar mass loss or by thermalization ofcold gas in-falling from tidal tails after a merger. Correlations of X-rays withage indicate a surprisingly slow build-up of hot gas, over several Gyr. So wheredoes the hot gas come from? We will obtain sensitive XMM-Newton observations ofyoung ellipticals (1 - 3 Gyr) and compare these with data for older ellipticals,to see how the X-ray emission evolves. If there is no hot gas in the youngellipticals, then we will get a clean view of the discrete stellar components.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2004-07-07T11:04:58Z/2004-07-27T19:37:06Z
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 ANNE E. SANSOM, 2005, 'YOUNG ELLIPTICALS - DO THEY POSSESS HOT GAS HALOSquestionMark', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-1dejm28
