Despite the importance of galaxy groups as the most common galaxy environment,and the likely repository of the majority of baryons in the Universe, no studyof the dynamics and baryon contents of an unbiased sample has ever beenconducted. We have begun a project to remedy this, targetting a sample of 25groups derived from the 2dF galaxy redshift survey with XMM, in combination withthe large IMACS imaging spectrograph. The resulting dataset will provide aunique resource for studying the structure and evolution of groups, and the wayin which group galaxies interact with their evolving environment. Opticalimaging and IMACS spectroscopy of these is progressing well, and we request 20ksec observations of seven groups, to add to the three awarded in AO-3.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2005-06-26T07:38:41Z/2006-06-10T23:45:43Z
Version
PPS_NOT_AVAILABLE
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, Prof Trevor Ponman, 2008, 'The structure and evolution of galaxy groups', PPS_NOT_AVAILABLE, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-aydjnfb
