HD 5980 is an Eta Car-like binary system in which one of the stellar componentsis an eruptive Luminous Blue Variable. Unlike Eta Car, the nature of the X-rayvariability of HD 5980 is unclear. We propose to re-observe HD 5980 with XMM tomeasure the X-ray brightness at four critical orbital phases to constrain thephase dependence of the X-ray emission and to provide a benchmark for futurespectrographic observations with XMM and CHANDRA. The observations we propose,combined with previous CHANDRA and XMM observations, will determine theimportance of colliding wind X-ray emission from this system and will also helpconstrain how the X-ray emission depends on the variable mass loss from the LBVcomponent.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2005-11-27T06:22:00Z/2005-12-11T17:29:52Z
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 Michael Corcoran, 2007, 'The X-ray Variability of HD 5980 comma the SMC.s d_commaEta Carinaed_comma', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-wp1g9vp
