Fast stellar winds from massive stars sweep up the surrounding gas to formbubbles. The shocked stellar wind reaches X-ray-emitting temperatures. Only twobubbles have been confirmed to emit diffuse X-rays: NGC 6888 and S308. Bothbubbles are blown by Wolf-Rayet stars, contain processed stellar materialejected by their progenitors, and have X-ray luminosity 1-2 orders of magnitudelower than theoretical predictions. Our AO1 XMM-Newton EPIC observations presentthe first high-resolution image and clean spectrum of the diffuse X-ray emissionfrom the interior of S308. The S/N of the data was compromised by a highbackground. We request a re-observation of the AO1 pointing and 3 newobservations to study the detailed global structure of S308.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2004-03-14T23:18:05Z/2004-03-15T21:21:42Z
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 YOU-HUA CHU, 2005, 'HOT GAS IN THE WIND-BLOWN BUBBLE S 308', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-podgs20
