X-ray spectral lines are expected at the beginning of the X-ray flaresassociated with tidal disruption events (TDE), providing great opportunity toprobe the spin of dormant supermassive black holes (SMBHs) as well as detectBardeen-Petterson (BP) effect. Little is known about the early phase of TDEsobservationally. Coverage of the early phase will shed light on accretionphysics under extreme conditions inaccessible in other systems. We propose anintensive coverage of the early phase of bright TDE X-ray flares with joint XMMand Swift observations. The observations would lead to the first detection of BPdisks expected around spinning SMBHs and the first application of reverberationmapping of the innermost accretion flow around a previously quiescent SMBH.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2017-03-29T20:49:58Z/2017-03-30T16:37:14Z
Version
19.17_20220121_1250
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 Wenfei Yu, 2018, 'Early Phase Coverage of X-ray Flares Associated with Tidal Disruption Events', 19.17_20220121_1250, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-zdkoevw
