With bolometric luminosities reaching Lvirgul10^45 erg/sec, the new class of SuperLuminous Supernovae (SLSNe) outshine ordinary SNe a factor 100 and represent thedeath of the most massive stars in our Universe. Their exceptional luminosityrequires exotic explosion mechanisms and/or sources of energy whose nature isunclear. Here we propose a continuation of our successful XMM program to maptheir X-ray emission down to unprecedented limits as part of ourmulti-wavelength effort through our programs on the VLA (radio), Swift (UV) andoptical/NIR facilities. The final aim is to: (i) Pin down the energy source ofSLSNe; (ii) Map the diversity of the pre-explosion evolution of theirprogenitors.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2016-06-08T21:26:37Z/2016-12-25T19:42:21Z
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 Raffaella Margutti, 2018, 'Energy source and pre-explosion progenitor evolution of SuperLuminous Supernovae', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-y0w5hao
