A number of high-energy (up to hundreds of keV) sources are already believed tobe powered by the dissipation of an exceptionally high magnetic field( >10^{15} ,G), and are collectively termed magnetars. All currently knownmagnetars are isolated; however, it was recently suggested that magnetars couldalso be hosted in young high mass X-ray binaries (HMXB). If the presence ofmagnetars in HMXBs is confirmed, then these sources might yield new crucialinformation onto the formation and evolution of these peculiar objects. While anumber of well known candidates are already under inspection, we propose here tocarry out a 20virgulks XMM-Newton observations of the two newly promising sourcesIGRvirgulJ17354 - 3255, and IGRvirgulJ16328 - 4726.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2011-02-20T07:02:13Z/2011-03-06T16:59:02Z
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 Carlo Ferrigno, 2012, 'Hunting for magnetars in poorly known high mass X-ray binaries using XMM-Newton', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-l0z89a8
