| Name | 040304 |
| Title | Mysterious Broad Absorption Line Quasars (BALQSOs) |
| URL | https://nxsa.esac.esa.int/nxsa-sl/servlet/data-action-aio?obsno=0403040101 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-vb7skj7 |
| Author | Prof Smita Mathur |
| Description | Just when we thought that the mystery of broad absorption line quasars is solved, new Chandra observations confront our understanding. Some BALQSOs appear unabsorbed in soft-X-rays and yet are X-ray weak. To understand these puzzling observations, we propose to observe a Chandra detected radio-loud BALQSO for precision spectroscopy with EPIC PN. With the high quality XMM spectrum we will uncover spectral complexity, if any, which mimics the unabsorbed spectral shape in the crude Chandra data. It would be even more interesting if the spectrum turns out to be truly unabsorbed, as it will completely shake the present hypothesis that BALQSOs are normal quasars viewed through special sightlines and will imply that radio-loud BALQSOs are a separate class, perhaps related to quasar evolution. |
| Publication | No observations found associated with the current proposal |
| Instrument | EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2 |
| Temporal Coverage | 2006-12-28T02:37:47Z/2007-01-07T08:33:00Z |
| Version | 17.56_20190403_1200 |
| Mission Description | The European Space Agency's (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) was launched by an Ariane 504 on December 10th 1999. XMM-Newton is ESA's 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 Earth's 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. |
| Creator Contact | https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/xmm-newton-helpdesk |
| Date Published | 2008-02-03T00:00:00Z |
| Publisher And Registrant | European Space Agency |
| Credit Guidelines | European Space Agency, 2008-02-03T00:00:00Z, 040304, 17.56_20190403_1200. https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-vb7skj7 |