We have discovered four nearby, exotic millisecond pulsars: one is a uniquetriple system; another orbits a very low-mass companion every 96 min; the othersare part of Pulsar Timing Arrays. As such all of these pulsars will be thetargets of considerable multi-wavelength observations over the next few years.Soft X-ray observations of millisecond pulsars are vital to understanding theirthermal emission, neutron star heating, particle emission, and fundamentalparameters such as mass and radius. We request 60 ks of XMM observations todetect the X-ray counterparts of these pulsars. By measuring their luminositiesand temperatures we will help determine the efficiency of polar cap heating, andcan plan for detailed phase-resolved observations.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2013-08-01T20:35:42Z/2014-03-29T20:45:28Z
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 David Kaplan, 2015, 'The First X-ray Observations of Four Exotic New Millisecond Pulsars', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-4himcvw
