The fast stellar winds from Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars sweep up the circumstellarmedia and form the so-called wind-blown bubbles or WR bubbles. The shock ofthese fast stellar winds against the dense shells left by previous evolutionarystages is expected to produce gas at X-ray-emitting temperatures. However,diffuse X-ray emission has been detected only inside two WR bubbles: S308 andNGC 6888. Our 100 ks Chandra ACIS-S observation of the northwest quadrant of NGC6888 presents the first high-resolution image and clean spectrum of its diffuseX-ray emission. To obtain a global view of the physical structure of NGC 688, wehere request a 60 ks XMM-Newton observation, which will otherwise take Chandra300 ks for a similar mapping of the entire nebula.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2014-04-05T23:05:16Z/2014-04-06T20:10:16Z
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, Mr Jesus A. Toala, 2015, 'Hot Gas in the Wolf-Rayet Bubble NGC 6888', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-28791n8
