At least four x-ray binaries (XTE J1739-302, IGR J17544-2619, IGR J16465-4507,and AX J1841.0-0536) have been established as Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients,with outbursts lasting only hours, spectra requiring a BH or NS accretor, faintquiescent emission, and O/B supergiant companions. Since they are difficult todetect and the list is rapidly growing, SFXTs may be the dominant population ofx-ray binaries born with two very massive components. They may therefore be theprimary progenitors of NS/NS or NS/BH mergers, and key to our understanding ofshort/hard gamma-ray bursts and the search for sources of gravitational waves.We propose to study the quiescent emission of four candidate sources and use theNewton localizations to test whether a (rare) OB supergiant is in the field.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2006-10-07T23:45:59Z/2006-10-14T11:32:09Z
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, Prof David M. Smith, 2007, 'Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients: A new class of massive X-ray binaries', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-0dx0gcr
