Black hole binaries show high frequency QPOs. These are not well understood buttheir short timescales imply they must be produced close to the event horizon.Our recent discovery of the first significant AGN QPO gives a unique opportunityto study these in much more detail than is possible in BHB from the .sloweddown. AGN QPO lightcurve. A single re-observation of the QPO would show thatthis is indeed a characteristic feature of this super-Eddington source, but theQPO is transient, not present in a followup snapshot. We propose 7 snapshots of50ks each (the maximum possible in this AO and the minimum required for a 3sigma detection) to re-detect the QPO and study its properties.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2010-05-09T05:59:19Z/2010-05-11T20:34:30Z
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 Matthew Middleton, 2011, 'Constraining the only significant AGN QPO', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-5w3zexv
