| Proposal ID | 040350 |
| Title | A White Dwarf Accreting Asteroids |
| Download Data Associated to the proposal | https://nxsa.esac.esa.int/nxsa-sl/servlet/data-action-aio?obsno=0403500101 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-07d1t6r |
| Principal Investigator, PI | Dr Michael Muno |
| Abstract | We propose to observe the isolated white dwarf GD 362 (D=25 pc) to search forX-ray emission from the accretion of circumstellar material. Most isolated whitedwarfs have atmospheres that are either pure H or He, but GD 362 also exhibitsstrong metal lines, even though metals should settle out of the photosphere inonly a few years. In the last year, GD 362 was discovered to exhibit excessinfrared emission from orbiting dust that may have been produced by the tidaldisruption of an asteroid. Accretion from this dust can account for theatmospheric metals, and would produce at least 0.5e28 erg/s in X-rays. Ameasurement of the flux and spectrum of X-rays is needed to confirm theaccretion hypothesis, and determine how much H is accreted with the metals. |
| Publications |
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| Instrument | EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2 |
| Temporal Coverage | 2006-09-04T02:06:40Z/2006-09-08T06:16:15Z |
| 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. |
| Creator Contact | https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/xmm-newton-helpdesk |
| Date Published | 2007-10-08T00:00:00Z |
| Last Update | 2025-01-27 |
| Keywords | "accretion hypothesis", "circumstellar material", "isolated white dwarfs", "tidal disruption", "5e28 erg", "gd 362", "xray emission", "metal lines", "atmospheric metals", "orbiting dust" |
| Publisher And Registrant | European Space Agency |
| Credit Guidelines | European Space Agency, Dr Michael Muno, 2007, 'A White Dwarf Accreting Asteroids', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-07d1t6r |