Since the early days of X-ray astronomy one of the central questions in ourunderstanding of accretion onto magnetic white dwarfs in compact binaries iswhether their observed ratio between soft and hard X-ray emission is inaccordance with theoretical expectations or not. We propose to address thisissue with XMM-Newton observations of a sample of soft X-ray selected polarsfrom the ROSAT All-Sky Survey. The X-ray characteristics of our sample membersare complementary to the parameter space covered by observations of polars inthe XMM-Newton GTO programme. A detailed study of the spectral components, theirflux contributions, and the physical structure of the accretion regions in thesesystems will, therefore, provide new insight into this long-lasting problem.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2005-08-15T06:39:38Z/2005-08-22T17:06:19Z
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 Klaus Reinsch, 2006, 'The energy budget of soft X-ray selected polars', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-y1o3cq6
