The recently discovered binary system TWA 30 consists of two of the nearestknown examples of actively accreting, pre-MS star systems. Both components ofTWA 30 have masses just above the brown dwarf regime and are orbited bycircumstellar disks viewed nearly edge-on. TWA 30A, a known X-ray source,exhibits large, variable optical/IR extinction that is evidently due to variabledisk absorption. We propose to use XMM to obtain two 75 ks exposures of TWA 30,separated by at least one month. The resulting, merged gratings spectrum of TWA30A and the EPIC CCD spectroscopy obtained at the two epochs for both stars willprovide new constraints for models of pre-MS X-ray emission, and will supplyunique information concerning disk viewing angles, masses, and gas/dust ratios in the TWA 30 system.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2011-06-07T10:17:49Z/2011-07-16T04:04:57Z
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 Giuseppe Sacco, 2012, 'The X-ray emission of cTTS binary TWA 30', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-pdipgeb
