XMM-Newton has confirmed the existence of the diffuse X-ray emission with atrail morphology lying in a direction opposite to the transverse motion of themillion year old pulsar PSR B1929+10. A possible interpretation of the emissionis that it is a synchrotron wake from particles left behind by the pulsar as itmoves through the ISM. We propose deep spectro-imaging observations of thepulsar.s X-ray trail with XMM-Newton in order to explore the emission processesat work and to measure its length/width and spectral evolution as a function ofdistance from the pulsar.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2013-03-30T12:28:50Z/2013-04-14T20:19:30Z
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, Prof Werner Becker, 2014, 'PSR B1929+10 - the most serious challenge for electron acceleration in a PWN', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-q22wghq
