Young, forming stars accrete matter along magnetic field lines from the inneredge of the protoplanetary disk. The impact of this material on the stellarsurface produces an X-ray emitting plasma of high density usually confirmed byX-ray observations. However, our target, the X-ray bright classical T Tauri star(CTTS) T Tau deviates strongly from this picture. In particular, the density ofthe cool plasma usually associated with the accretion process is too low to becompatible with the standard accretion scenario. We propose to obtain three 40ks exposures to test whether this is due to a transient phenomenon or if T Taupermanently differs from established CTTS properties. In that case, a differentaccretion type and a different soft X-ray generating process must be present.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2014-08-15T08:47:09Z/2014-09-07T04:47:40Z
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 Christian Schneider, 2015, 'Magnetically funneled accretion challenged by X-rays from T Tauri', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-u05w38p
