The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) hosts an extraordinary high number of nearlyone hundred known high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), 63 with known X-raypulsations, indicating the spin of the neutron star (NS). Since most Be/X-raybinaries show strong X-ray outbursts, they were detected rather incidentally byimaging X-ray instruments and the evolution of their high-energy emission duringoutburst is still not known well. Within the field of view (FoV) of XMM-Newtonup to 14 known BeXRB pulsars in the SMC can be observed simultaneously. Wepropose a monitoring with 14 observations over 52 days of a region with highdensity of HMXBs in the SMC, to study the evolution of the X-ray spectrum andthe pulse profiles during outbursts with time and luminosity.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2015-10-26T03:31:34Z/2016-03-24T17:51:49Z
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 Richard Sturm, 2017, 'Monitoring of Be X-ray binaries in the SMC', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-ywrtawg
