Very High Energy (VHE, >50 GeV) gamma rays provide a direct view of some of themost extreme environments in our Galaxy and are an excellent probe ofnon-thermal astrophysical processes. Studies of the non-thermal Galactic sourcepopulation are essential to understand where and how the bulk of the cosmic raysare accelerated in our Galaxy. Fermi has recently produced the first uniformsurvey of the entire Galactic plane at >50GeV, detecting more than 25%unidentified, new, sources. We propose to observe with XMM-Newton the 6spectrally harder and thus most extreme objects in the Fermi sample. The studyof these sources with XMM-Newton will unveil new sites of particle accelerationand will allow us understand the physics behind VHE emitters.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2016-11-22T21:03:19Z/2017-04-03T16:21:57Z
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 Marco Ajello, 2018, 'Discovering new Galactic Accelerators with XMM-Newton', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-pmk8zr8
