If galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) are the main producer of cosmic rayprotons below <3 PeV, the average remnant must produce virgul10^50 ergs of cosmicrays. However, <10 SNRs show observational evidence for cosmic ray acceleration,and even fewer are producing these particles with the required efficiency. Whileour recent analysis of SNR Kes 17 suggest it is producing cosmic ray protons,uncertainty about its age, surrounding density, and spectrum of its acceleratedelectrons, prevents us from measuring the energy of these cosmic rays. With therequested XMM observation we will make these measurement and determine themechanism responsible for its ..mixed morphology. nature, a class of SNRsassociated with cosmic ray production.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2016-01-29T06:53:18Z/2016-01-30T14:16:38Z
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, Prof Joseph Gelfand, 2017, 'The Cosmic Ray Production of Mixed Morphology Supernova Remnant Kes 17', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-cpcxilr
