Our understanding of Galactic faint X-ray sources is limited. Although many suchsources have been detected by the ASCA Galactic Plane Survey, the majority stillremain unidentified, particularly due to the poor accuracy in position (1-3arcmin). The main aim of this proposal is to use XMM-Newton to measure accuratepositions for these sources, allowing optical/IR followup to identify them. Thiswill lead to a greater understanding of these sources and allow better tests ofbinary and Galactic evolution models
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2007-02-24T15:24:53Z/2007-03-08T01:58:40Z
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, Mr Edward Cackett, 2008, 'Identifying the X-ray sources detected by the ASCA Galactic Plane Survey', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-xcfd6yz
