Creating a binary/multiple system during star formation is an effective way tomanipulate angular momentum, an important ingredient in the process, leavingbinary parameters as a fingerprint. We have surveyed 69 Cepheids with the HubbleSpace Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) survey, and identified 39 possiblelow-mass companions to these 5 Msun supergiants, which have the surprisingcharacteristic that there are approximately as many F-G dwarfs as K dwarfs.X-rays are the key to determining whether they are physical companions or chancealignments, and this proposal is a pilot X-ray project to identify genuinecompanions to test this.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2012-09-12T06:52:49Z/2013-04-26T11:32:01Z
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 Nancy Remage Evans, 2014, 'Constraining Star Formation: Low Mass Companions of 5 Msun Stars', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-alnrnqb
