Recently our understanding of Ultraluminous X-ray Sources (ULX) has advancedsignificantly due to broad band spectro-temporal studies with XMM Newton, Suzakuand NuSTAR. Evidence now suggests that many ULXs with LX 1040ergs 1 are poweredby super-Eddington accretion onto black holes with masses up to 100 Mo. Thisextreme accretion regime remains poorly understood. Observations show that ULXsare variable on timescales of weeks and exhibit distinct spectral statescharacterized by multiple components in the 0.3 30 keV band. To understand thesecomponents we propose to trigger a NuSTAR and XMM Newton observation of one ofthe bright ULXs in our sample in a different spectral state than previouslyobserved.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2014-07-05T22:37:13Z/2014-07-06T16:07:12Z
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 Matteo Bachetti, 2015, 'Sampling ULX spectral states with XMM Newton and NuSTAR', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-wptxzd2
