Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient are a sub-class of high mass X-ray binariesshowing sporadic outbursts lasting only a few days, where most of the X-rayluminosity is concentrated in short (a few hours) X-ray flares reaching1E36-1E37 erg/s. The driving mechanism is still highly debated, and involvesmodels predicting magnetar-like neutron star magnetic fields (1E14 G) versusmore typical values (1E12 G). IGRJ11215-5952 is the only SFXT with predictableoutbursts, being periodic with a 165 day orbital period. This allows us topropose a XMM and NuSTAR joint observation (20 ks) to search for a cyclotronline and directly determine the NS magnetic field. This will enable todisentangle among the currently available models.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2016-02-14T21:07:53Z/2016-02-15T03:41:13Z
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 Lara Sidoli, 2017, 'IGR J 11215-5952: searching for cyclotron lines in a SFXT pulsar', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-lhdz81l
