In March and May this year, our collaboration discovered two examples of anapparently new class of high energy transient. Named Swift 1644+57 and Swift2058+0516, they are exceptionally X-ray bright events, accompanied by emissionacross the electromagnetic spectrum. A working model is that these are the tidaldisruption of a star by the central black hole in a distant galaxy, althoughalternative models remain plausible. Here we seek long term observations ofSwift 2058+0516. Using XMM-Newton we will measure both the lightcurve andspectrum at late times while the source is too faint for the Swift-XRT. In doingso we will determine late time properties of the object (e.g. disc vs jet) andcompare the lightcurve to the expectations for tidal disruption events.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2012-05-01T17:21:43Z/2012-05-02T08:40:23Z
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 Andrew Levan, 2013, 'A late time look at the relativistic tidal disruption event Swift 2058+0516', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-c2c2gc8
