The seven nearest thermally emitting neutron stars may be the best way to samplethe true demography of neutron stars, and arguably offer the best prospects formeasuring neutron-star radii. Both tasks are limited by our ignorance of theirmagnetic field strengths, and hence we have been determining timing solutionswith Chandra and XMM. The results so far show a surprising grouping of fieldstrengths in a range intermediate between normal pulsars and magnetars, with ahint at an interaction between the thermal emission and magnetic field. Here, wepropose to measure the spin-down of RX J0420.0-5022, which has the lowesttemperature of the sample and will complete the spin-down measurements forthermally emitting neutron stars with confirmed periodicities.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2010-03-30T11:55:07Z/2011-04-11T08:51:54Z
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, Prof David Kaplan, 2012, 'Measuring the Spin-down of The Nearby Isolated Neutron Star RX J0420.0-5022', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-qne6mwk
