A Whole New Hot Universeby XMM Newton

Liz PuchnarewiczMullard Space Science LaboratoryUniversity College, Londonwww.mssl.ucl.ac.uk

Why X-rays?

Cataclysmic variables- the ‘cannibal ‘ stars

Quasars- monstrous black holes

Ariane V - XMM-Newton cutaway

10m

• XMM-Newton was launched into a highly-elliptical, 2-day orbit

• Perigee is 7,000 km, apogee is 114,000 km, one third of the way to the Moon

• Observations began in July 2000

• The mission has cost ESA ~£500million, should last for 10 years – and is almost 10 times more sensitive than the US mission, Chandra.

XMM Newton before launch

This is XMM-Newton in the clean room at ESTEC, in Noordwijk (Netherlands). The observatory is assembled just before being shipped to French Guiana for launch. It stands about 10m tall.

XMM Newton

Imaging spectroscopy

An X-ray spectrum at every point in an image.

Protostellar formation

In a cloud of dust and gas 500 light years away, stars are being born at a very fast rate. Within is a stellar system of two stars which may well condense into a kind of ‘solar system’. Its two discs are each 20 AU across. The system is less than a million years old.

The protostellar X-ray jet

The IRS5 stars appear to be powering – jointly or separately – at least two observable jets, which are moving outwards at a speed of between 200-400 km/s. The temperature of these jets is about 100 000K.

Is this a protostar system?

The jets stretch out to distances of about 1000 AU. Stellar winds create a ‘cavity’ around the jets. This cavity reflects light from the two stars. X-rays from the jets shine down on the accretion disks – are all systems formed this way?

This is a real jet

This jet is from the black hole in the galaxy, M87

X-ray image from NASA’s Chandra Observatory

Tycho Supernova remnant

This is the Tycho supernova remnant, discovered by Tycho Brahe. X-rays are emitted from the very hot gas within via bremsstrahlung. As material slams through the interstellar medium, shock waves also emit X-rays.

Tycho SNR X-ray spectrum

Elemental shock fronts

From the spectrum we can slice through the SNR by element to see where the emission from each is strongest. Note the differences between the elements.

Multiwavelength facility

RGS high resolution spectra

For gas temperatures, densities and composition.

M81 in the UV -hot stars, binary stars and a quasar-type black hole

OM UV image of M81

The starburst galaxy, NGC 253

Image in visible light

NGC253 – image in X-rays

Two stars switch off in

the Andromeda

Galaxy

Are these supersoft

binary stars?

the period is very short so the stars must be close then the system would be faint but it’s bright

and we know they’re in Andromeda so we have a new supersoft source

Gazing into the Universe

Quasars – testing relativity

A leap further with Xeus

Adding petals from the ISS

The End

Liz PuchnarewiczMullard Space Science LaboratoryUniversity College, Londonwww.mssl.ucl.ac.uk