The activity of the inner acceleration gap in pulsars should be detectable inboth thermal and non-thermal X-rays. The electron-positron pair plasma ispolarised by the accelerating electric field. One species bombards the surfaceand heats the polar cap to MK temperatures, while the other one creates thesecondary plasma in the magnetosphere. The old cool pulsars should be detectedin X-rays as thermal blackbody (BB) radiation from hot polar cap, together withnon-thermal synchrotron radiation originating far from the surface. We propose asensitive 100 ks exposure observation by XMM-Newton simultaneous withGMRT/Effelsberg radio observations of the nearby pulsar B1133+16, to preciselydetermine the X-ray signatures of its inner acceleration region.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2014-05-25T12:18:42Z/2014-06-28T17:55:32Z
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 Janusz Gil, 2015, 'A simultaneous X-ray and radio observation of the nearby pulsar B1133+16.', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-xspsu6f
