Suspicious dips have recently been found in the light curves of some young Mdwarfs. At first these dips were thought to be transiting exoplanets, but thechanging phase and depth over time scales of weeks makes an exoplanetary originunlikely. We suggest the presence of extremely dense slingshot prominences asthe cause for this variability. We have recently discovered an M dwarf with thisbehavior that is very X-ray bright, allowing to test the slingshot prominencescenario by testing whether a deep dip in X-rays occurs at the same time as theshallow optical dip. We propose to observe the star for 1.2 rotation periods,i.e.\ a total of 115\,ks with XMM-EPIC.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2022-04-16T21:52:41Z/2022-04-18T10:28:46Z
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, Prof Katja Poppenhaeger, 2023, 'M dwarf dips\: signposts of mega-slingshot prominencesquestionMark', PPS_NOT_AVAILABLE, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.57780/esa-u5xip4y
