Among Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars, WR148 (HD 197406) appears to be very unusual: it isan extreme runaway, single-line spectroscopic binary in which the companionstrongly ionizes the dense WR wind. It has been suggested that WR148 harbors acompact companion, most likely a black hole (BH). Using XMM-Newton we willdetermine the nature of the companion: we will search for hard X-rays (typicallylarger than virgul6 keV) as the signature of a BH in WR148. We will also identify thesoft X-ray (less than virgul2.5 keV) emission previously detected from this source.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2006-07-10T06:02:45Z/2006-07-12T14:46:10Z
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 Erik Kuulkers, 2007, 'Is there a black hole in WR148questionMark', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-f4wp3i5
