In quiescence, the soft X-ray spectra of neutron star (NS) Low-Mass X-ray Binary(LMXB) transients most often contain two components: one is due to thermalemission from the NS surface and is reasonably well-understood, while the otheris a hard (often very hard) power-law of unknown origin. The upcoming NuSTARmission will provide the first measurement of the >10 keV spectrum of quiescentNS LMXBs, which, along with XMM-Newton observations, will allow us todiscriminate between accretion and pulsar rotation as the energy source for thepower-law component. We propose coordinated XMM-Newton/NuSTAR observations ofthe closest and brightest quiescent system, Cen X-4.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2013-01-21T11:43:58Z/2013-01-21T22:47:50Z
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 John Tomsick, 2014, 'The first broadband study of a NS transient in quiescence with XMM and NuSTAR', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-9498alm
