SgrA* is the ideal target to understand the accretion and outflow physics in thecase of extremely low accretion rate onto a supermassive black hole. Thediscovery of flares from SgrA* has provided new exciting perspectives forunderstanding the processes at work in the Galactic nucleus. They are verylikely to be produced within 10 Schwarzschild radii and hence probe theenvironment very close to the black hole. Recently, VLBI observations at 1.3mmdemonstrate that angular resolution comparable to the apparent size of the eventhorizon is now technically possible. Therefore, we propose to performsimultaneous observations of SgrA* with XMM-Newton and 1.3mm VLBI to constrainthe location of the high-energy flares from SgrA*.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2011-03-28T07:49:58Z/2011-04-05T21:14:38Z
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 Delphine Porquet, 2012, 'Probing the flaring activity of SgrA* with XMM-Newton-VLBI observations', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-801jgja
