XMM-Newton News Archive - Year 2021
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26-Oct-2021
Could this be a planet in another galaxy?
Using ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s Chandra X-ray space telescopes, astronomers have made an important step in the quest to find a planet outside of the Milky Way.
Further details on ESA's Science & Exploration web portal.
22-Oct-2021
Needles in a haystack: Searching for isolated neutron stars in a massive catalog
"Candidate isolated neutron stars in the 4XMM-DR10 catalog of X-ray sources". The authors of today’s paper chose the recently-released 4XMM-DR10 catalog, containing the results of 849,991 detections by the XMM-Newton x-ray space telescope.
Further details on Astrobites web portal.
20-Sep-2021
Heavy Metals Hint at an Unusually Dense White Dwarf
A team of astronomers led by Yuken Ohshiro (University of Tokyo) used X-ray observations from the space-based XMM-Newton observatory to detect the presence of heavy metals in supernova remnant 3C 397.
Further details on AAS Nova web portal.
31-Aug-2021
Astronomers Locate the Source of High-Energy Cosmic Rays
Roughly a century ago, scientists began to realize that some of the radiation we detect in Earth’s atmosphere is not local in origin... For the sake of their study, the team relied on data obtained by the HESS, a VHE gamma-ray observatory located in Namibia combined with X-ray data obtained by the ESA’s X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton).
Further details on Universe Today web portal.
17-Aug-2021
XMM-Newton 21st Announcement of Opportunity (AO-21)
The XMM-Newton Twenty-first Announcement of Opportunity is now open and observing proposals may be submitted.
The deadline is 8 October 2021, 12:00 UT
Further details here on our XMM-Newton SOC website.
29-Jul-2021
Stanford astrophysicists report first detection of light from behind a black hole
Fulfilling a prediction of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, researchers report the first-ever recordings of X-ray emissions from the far side of a black hole. This work was supported by the NASA NuSTAR and XMM-Newton Guest Observer programs.
Further details on Stanford News web portal.
29-Jul-2021
XMM-Newton sees light echo from behind a black hole
For the first time, astronomers have seen light coming from behind a black hole. Using ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s NuSTAR space telescopes, an international team of scientists led by Dan Wilkins of Stanford University observed extremely bright flares of X-ray light coming from around a black hole.
Further details on ESA's Science & Exploration web portal.
12-Jul-2021
The mystery of what causes Jupiter’s X-ray auroras is solved
The 40-year-old mystery of what causes Jupiter’s X-ray auroras has been solved. For the first time, astronomers have seen the entire mechanism at work – and it could be a process occurring in many other parts of the Universe too.
Further details on ESA's Science & Exploration web portal.
29-Jun-2021
Orphan cloud discovered in galaxy cluster
New observations made with ESA’s X-ray XMM Newton telescope have revealed an “orphan cloud” – an isolated cloud in a galaxy cluster that is the first discovery of its kind.A lot goes on in a galaxy cluster. There can be anything from tens to thousands of galaxies bound together by gravity.
Further details on ESA's Science & Exploration web portal.
28-Jun-2021
Matter highway in space makes galaxy clusters grow
Six months ago, astronomers at the University of Bonn reported the discovery of an extremely long intergalactic gas filament with the X-ray telescope eROSITA...To do this, the researchers combined images from several sources: the SRG/eROSITA, XMM-Newton and Chandra satellites.
Further details on Argelander-Institut für Astronomie web portal.
25-Jun-2021
The EXTraS project: Exploring the X-ray Transient and variable Sky
Everything flows. Time is a fundamental perception in our life. In this paper, De Luca and collaborators investigate the timing properties of ~400,000 X-ray sources found in the XMM-Newton database for over 10 years of observations.
Further details on Astronomy & Astrophysics web portal.
10-Jun-2021
Scientists measured the central density of a white dwarf for the first time
An international collaboration recently measured the central density of white dwarf just before exploding as a so-called Type Ia supernova. Using data obtained from the astronomical satellite XMM-Newton, they made observations of the supernova remnant 3C 397 and measured its central density.
Further details on Tech Explorist web portal.
08-Jun-2021
New X-ray map reveals growing supermassive black holes in next-gen survey fields
One of the largest X-ray surveys using the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton space observatory has mapped nearly 12,000 X-ray sources across three large, prime regions of the sky.The X-ray sources represent active galactic nuclei and galaxy clusters...
Further details on Penn State web portal.
24-May-2021
Observations shed more light on the properties of pulsar PSR J0740+6620
An international team of astronomers has carried out X-ray observations of a massive millisecond pulsar known as PSR J0740+6620...The XMM-Newton (hereafter XMM) telescope observed PSR J0740+6620 as part of a Director's Discretionary Time program...
Further details on Phys web portal.
17-May-2021
Supermassive black holes devour gas just like their petite counterparts
On Sept. 9, 2018, astronomers spotted a flash from a galaxy 860 million light years away. The source was a supermassive black hole about 50 million times the mass of the sun...The team collected data over two years, using X-ray space telescopes XMM-Newton and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory...
Further details on MIT web portal.
29-Apr-2021
eROSITA witnesses the awakening of massive black holes
Using the SRG/eROSITA all-sky survey data, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics have found two previously quiescent galaxies that now show quasi-periodic eruptions...which was confirmed by follow-up observations with the XMM-Newton.
Further details on Max Planck Institute web portal.
28-Apr-2021
Quasi-periodic dipping detected in an ultraluminous X-ray source
Astronomers have performed a timing analysis of the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 247 ULX-1 using ESA's XMM-Newton spacecraft. The study detected quasi-periodic dipping in the X-ray light curve of this source...NGC 247 ULX-1 was observed eight times by XMM-Newton over one month.
Further details on Phys web portal.
28-Apr-2021
X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions from two previously quiescent galaxies
Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are very-high-amplitude bursts of X-ray radiation recurring every few hours and originating near the central supermassive black holes of galactic nuclei...observations triggered with the XMM-Newton X-ray telescope confirmed the remarkable bursting nature of the source.
Further details on Nature web portal.
05-Apr-2021
Unusual flaring activity observed from the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 4559 X7
Italian astronomers have performed X-ray observations of an ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) known as NGC 4559 X7 and found that this source exhibits unusual flaring activity... analyzed all the available X-ray observations of NGC 4559 X7 taken with XMM-Newton.
Further details on Phys web portal.
30-Mar-2021
When clouds collide
Our galaxy is surrounded by numerous ‘satellite’ galaxies, the largest being the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)...Researchers have now used ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray observatory to explore the emission streaming from the X-ray spur at multiple wavelengths.
Further details on ESAS's Science & Exploration web portal.
15-Jan-2021
Physicists May Have Found Dark Matter: X-rays Surrounding “Magnificent 7” May Be Traces of Theorized Particle
Researchers say they may have found proof of theorized axions, and possibly dark matter, around a group of neutron stars...from two space satellites: the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s Chandra X-ray telescopes.
Further details on SciTechDaily web portal.
11-Jan-2021
Cosmic neon lights
This image shows a new type of star that has never been seen before in X-ray light.A team of astronomers led by Lidia Oskinova...used ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray telescope to study the object that was originally discovered in 2019.
Further details on ESAS's Science & Exploration web portal.
06-Jan-2021
Supergiant eclipsing binary IGR J18027–2016 investigated in detail
Using data from ESA's XMM-Newton and NASA's Swift spacecraft, astronomers have conducted a detailed temporal and spectral study of an eclipsing supergiant X-ray binary known as IGR J18027–2016. Results of this research provide important insights into the properties of this system.
Further details on Phys web portal.
