| Proposal ID | 086538 |
| Title | External and internal heating in the old pulsar PSR B0950+08 |
| Download Data Associated to the proposal | https://nxsa.esac.esa.int/nxsa-sl/servlet/data-action-aio?obsno=0865380101 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.57780/esa-kmsk4nr |
| Principal Investigator, PI | Dr George Pavlov |
| Abstract | PSR B0950+08 is a 17 Myr old bright radio pulsar at d=260 pc. X-ray observationsof this pulsar provide a rare opportunity to test models of polar cap heating byprecipitating magnetospheric particles, while the UV-optical observations cantest models of internal heating in neutron stars, which are determined byfundamental properties of matter. The only previous XMM-Newton observation wasnot deep enough to reliably separate the polar cap and magnetosphericcomponents, while optical observations with ground-based telescopes lacked theneeded angular resolution. The proposed deep XMM-Newton observations,supplemented by an HST observation, will be the most detailed multiwavelengthstudy of an old radio pulsar to date. |
| Publications |
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| Instrument | EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2 |
| Temporal Coverage | 2020-05-16T19:46:40Z/2021-06-07T02:42:30Z |
| 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. |
| Creator Contact | https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/xmm-newton-helpdesk |
| Date Published | 2022-06-22T00:00:00Z |
| Last Update | 2026-07-09 |
| Keywords | "XMM-Newton", "bright radio pulsar", "pulsar psr b0950", "reliably separate", "psr b0950", "XMM", "fundamental properties", "magnetospheric components", "260 pc", "internal heating", "neutron stars", "deep xmm newton", "test models", "precipitating magnetospheric particles", "uv optical", "polar cap", "polar cap heating", "telescopes lacked", "HST", "radio pulsar", "angular resolution", "xmm newton" |
| Publisher And Registrant | European Space Agency |
| Credit Guidelines | European Space Agency, Dr George Pavlov, 2022, 'External and internal heating in the old pulsar PSR B0950+08', PPS_NOT_AVAILABLE, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.57780/esa-kmsk4nr |
| Rights | Data hosted in the ESA Space Science Archives are distributed under the CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO license. |