As both the software and hardware for detecting exoplanets has improved inrecent years, the population of small exoplanets in the Solar neighbourhoodknown to transit their star has increased significantly. Models suggest thatsuch planets may be the rocky remains of once much larger planets that werestripped of their outer envelope due to the intense level of high energyradiation impacting their atmosphere. We propose to study five nearby stars thatare known to host one or more planets of Earth and super-Earth size, in order tocharacterise their high energy environment, and provide results to complementfuture atmospheric studies with instruments such as HST and JWST.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2017-09-27T19:14:40Z/2018-01-10T19:45:40Z
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 George King, 2019, 'Probing the XUV environments of small comma nearby transiting planets', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-7duuuky
