Black holes of all sizes, from stellar mass to supermassive, undergo quiescentperiods. The quiescent behavior likely differs from luminous phases, but thereare large uncertainties in the geometry and physical conditions of the accretinggas. At a basic level, we do not even know if observed emission is dominated byinflowing or outflowing gas. We propose a detailed multiwavelength study of thebrightest quiescent stellar mass black hole, V404 Cyg. We will build upon ourprevious successful observations and will i) use an echo-mapping experiment toexplore the structure and conditions of the outer disk and test the origin ofthe optical continuum emission; ii) obtain a high quality X-ray continuumspectrum; iii) search for fluorescent iron line emission.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2005-11-08T22:42:23Z/2005-11-09T10:00:10Z
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 Robert Hynes, 2006, 'Echo-Mapping a Quiescent Black Hole', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-mmser1p
