Zeta Lyrae is a nearby (d=47 pc) bright (V=4.1) star which has shown an strongoptical flash and which shows strong X-ray emission. The system is asingle-lined spectroscopic binary. While ordinarily, these properties could allbe explained by coronal activity from either the primary or the secondary, theprimary here is an A star, and the secondary is both unseen, and has a mass ofat least 0.8 solar masses. The source is not detected in the radio down to about40 microJy (about 20 times below the flux density expected for a stellar massblack hole at this X-ray luminosity). We propose XMM observations to test ideasfor the origin of the X-ray emission and hopefully to explain the optical flashas well.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2012-05-12T05:14:20Z/2012-09-02T07:15:42Z
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 Thomas Maccarone, 2013, 'The mysterious X-ray emission and optical flash of Zeta Lyrae', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-m1oktfs
