The spectral type boundary that determines which very low-mass objects willeventually become M stars, vs. brown dwarfs, remains poorly constrained duringpre-main sequence evolution. High-energy observations of pre-main sequence Mstars offer a means to probe chromospheric and coronal activity due to stellarmagnetic activity, so as to help determine this boundary. However, even though amajority of stars in the solar neighborhood are of mid- to late-M type, theX-ray activity of such stars remain essentially unexplored for the important agerange 10-50 Myr. We propose to use XMM-Newton to observe 6 nearby (Dvirgul50 pc),young (age 10-50 Myr) stars of type M6-M9, to investigate the potential decreasein UV and X-ray luminosities for very low-mass stars at this age.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2016-11-17T12:15:50Z/2016-11-17T23:50:21Z
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 David Principe, 2017, 'Investigating Magnetic Activity in the Lowest Mass Pre-Main Sequence Stars', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-o123stk
