The first TeV gamma-ray survey of the inner part of our Galaxy, recentlyperformed with HESS, yielded eight new sources, seven of which have beenidentified with radio, X-ray and soft gamma-ray sources. However, TeV J1614-518,a bright, hard-spectrum, extended source, has strikingly elluded identification,notably in the radio and ROSAT bands. We propose XMM-Newton observations tosearch for its X-ray counterpart. An identification would provide keyinformation about the source type, the spectral high energy distribution and thesource spatial structure. Otherwise, the lack of an X-ray counterpart wouldseverely challenge lepton acceleration models and point towards hadronicacceleration or a new, dark class of cosmic ray sources.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2007-02-13T17:54:33Z/2007-02-14T05:42:18Z
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 Javier Bussons, 2008, 'Identification of new TeV gamma-ray sources in the Galactic Plane', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-tqdhst7
