The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is currently the pre-eminent optical/near-IR surveyfor cosmology. DES uses four probes to study the physical nature of dark energy,including clusters of galaxies. To unlock the full potential of DES clusters, werequire precise information of the galaxy-richness to halo-mass scalingrelation, i.e. its slope, normalisation, and scatter. Of these, the least wellknown is the scatter. Therefore, one of the highest priorities for DES is toimprove measurements of the scatter (and its evolution). For this, X-rayobservations of a statistically complete sample are essential (archival,including serendipitous, observations are insufficient). We propose XMMobservations (totaling 283ks) of 14 DES clusters, to complete a sample of 40 of the richest clusters in DES
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2019-12-27T05:31:19Z/2019-12-27T10:59:39Z
Version
18.00_20191217_1110
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 Paul Giles, 2021, 'Enhancing DES cosmology with a complete sample of RedMaPPer selected clusters', 18.00_20191217_1110, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.57780/esa-j9qppqm
