Massive stars have strong winds, which collide in massive binaries, giving riseto hard and varying X-ray emission. Cyg OB2 #5 is such a case. It was recentlyfound to be a quadruple system and changes in its X-ray emission indicate thatsome X-rays arise in the wind-wind collision (WWC) between the close binary andthe third star orbiting it in 6.7 yrs. In this context, X-rays are a crucialtool to constrain the orbital parameters, but the 6.7 yr orbit is poorlysampled. A monitoring (one observation per year) is thus needed. To continuethis program, we request in this AO a short exposure (10 ks).
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2016-10-21T14:56:54Z/2016-10-21T19:56:54Z
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, Mr Constantin Cazorla, 2017, 'Investigating the origin of the X-ray emission of Cyg OB2 #5 - continuation', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-rqp6i9s
