A0538-66 is a Be/X-ray binary (XRB) containing a 69ms pulsar that shows brightX-ray outbursts at periastron (up to 1E39 erg/s) associated with luminousoptical flares (up to one order of magnitude brighter than the companion starluminosity). Optical flares reaching these luminosities are not observed inother Be/XRBs. We propose three observations of A0538-66, each 10 ks long,during three periastron passages of the neutron star, to understand themechanism responsible for the production of fast and bright optical flares, andto search for pulsations never observed again after Einstein.s detection. Wewill use EPIC, OM, and simultaneous optical to near-infrared observations fromour on-going REM monitoring.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2018-05-15T06:04:50Z/2018-06-17T16:34:10Z
Version
PPS_NOT_AVAILABLE
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 Lorenzo Ducci, 2019, 'X-ray and optical observations of the fast flaring HMXB A0538-66', PPS_NOT_AVAILABLE, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-yd03vo8
