The recent discovery of Pi Men c, a super-Earth transiting an outstandinglybright nearby star (V = 5.67; 18 pc), presents an unrivalled opportunity tostudy the atmosphere of a small planet just above the ..radius-period valley.While the expected transit signature of the atmosphere in the optical/infraredis very small, the high-energy environment of the planet is thought to befavourable for large transit absorption features in the far- ultraviolet due toan escaping, extended upper atmosphere. Using simultaneous XMM-Newton and HSTobservations, we propose to perform both a full reconstruction of thedifferential emission measure in order to characterise the high-energyirradiation impingent on the planet, and a sensitive search for evaporation signals due to these photons. In addit
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2020-12-06T16:12:40Z/2020-12-07T04:59:20Z
Version
18.02_20200221_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, 2021, 'The irradiation and atmospheric escape of the brightest gaseous super-Earth', 18.02_20200221_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.57780/esa-8td0cpm
