XMM-Newton News Archive - Year 2023
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19-Dec-2023
Second radio relic discovered in the galaxy cluster Abell 2108
Chatterjee's team spotted a distinct diffuse emission feature in the northeastern periphery of Abell 2108. The brightest region of this feature was measured to be about 1.4 million light years away from the cluster's X-ray center. The image shows XMM-Newton X-ray in blue.
Further details on Phys.org web portal.
10-Nov-2023
Graziella Branduardi-Raymont
Staff, students and friends of MSSL have paid tributes to Professor Graziella Branduardi-Raymont, who passed away on 3rd November after several weeks in hospital. After obtaining her PhD in X-ray astronomy in 1977, Graziella moved to the Harvard Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in the US to work on data coming from NASA’s revolutionary new Einstein Observatory, which was the first X-ray astronomy satellite to carry imaging X-ray optics. Notably, the first high-resolution X-ray image of the Perseus cluster of galaxies from Einstein was published in a paper led by Graziella. Graziella's mission involvements included ESA’s first X-ray observatory, Exosat, the German-UK-US observatory, Rosat and ESA’s XMM-Newton.
Further details on UCL web portal.
30-Oct-2023
An Exo-Neptune Beat the Odds and Kept its Atmosphere
As planet-hunting scientists find more and more planets, they’ve encountered some puzzles. One of them concerns the lack of Neptune-size worlds orbiting close to their stars. Astronomers think that these planets aren’t massive enough to retain their atmospheres in the face of their stars’ powerful radiation, which strips it away. The answer must lie in the star itself, since there’s nothing a planet this size can do to shield itself. It’s directly in the path of its star’s powerful output with nothing to shield it. To examine the star more closely, the researchers behind this study used XMM-Newton.
Further details on Universe Today web portal.
25-Oct-2023
The Shocking Nature of Supernova Remnant RCW 86
To study the effects of the environment on supernova remnant evolution, the authors made use of an observation of RCW 86 from the X-ray space telescope XMM-Newton. The observation was conducted in 2014, and collected photons across two energy bands, namely the red (0.5 – 2.0 keV) and blue (2.0 – 8.0 keV) bands.
Further details on Astrobites web portal.
12-Oct-2023
European astronomers explore galaxy cluster G113
A group of astronomers led by Maria Giulia Campitiello of the University of Bologna in Italy, decided to change this. They investigated G113 in X-rays as part of the Cluster HEritage project with XMM-Newton: Mass Assembly and Thermodynamics at the Endpoint of structure formation (CHEX-MATE). Their study was complemented by images from the LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey-Data release 2 (LoTSS-DR2).
Further details on Phys.org web portal.
12-Sep-2023
Two large cold fronts detected in the galaxy cluster Abell 3558
Astronomers from the University of Alabama in Huntsville have investigated the galaxy cluster Abell 3558 using ESA's XMM-Newton spacecraft. In their results, they detected two large-scale sloshing cold fronts in the outskirts of this cluster. The finding was reported in a paper published August 30 on the pre-print server arXiv.
Further details on Phys.org web portal.
28-Aug-2023
Astronomers Reveal Marvellous Eclipsing Absorber in Active Galaxy NGC 6814
A research team led by Prof. WANG Junxian and PhD students KANG Jialai from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) has revealed a marvellous, composite eclipsing absorber responsible for a highly distinct X-ray eclipse event in active galaxy NGC 6814 observed with XMM-Newton. The paper, titled as “What can be learnt from a highly informative X-ray occultation event in NGC 6814? A marvellous absorber” was published by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on August 23. This information is also available at: https://phys.org/news/2023-08-astronomers-reveal-eclipsing-absorber-galaxy.html
Further details here on University of Science and Technology of China and Phys.org web portal.
22-Aug-2023
Astronomers discover a new type of stellar object hiding in plain sight
Astronomers have made a thorough forensic study of a star that was torn apart when it ventured too close to a giant black hole and then had its insides tossed out into space. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA's XMM-Newton studied the amount of nitrogen and carbon near a black hole known to have torn apart a star. Astronomers think these elements were created inside the star before it was ripped apart as it neared the black hole.
Further details on Phys.org web portal.
17-Aug-2023
XMM-Newton 23rd Announcement of Opportunity (AO-23)
The XMM-Newton Twenty-third Announcement of Opportunity is now open and observing proposals may be submitted.
The deadline is 6 October 2023, 12:00 UT
Further details here on our XMM-Newton SOC web portal.
19-Jul-2023
Astronomers discover a new type of stellar object hiding in plain sight
The object could be an ultra-long period magnetar, a rare type of neutron star with extremely strong magnetic fields that can produce powerful bursts of energy, but also a magnetic white dwarf, the old phase of a Sun-like star. ICE-CSIC researchers Nanda Rea and Francesco Coti Zelati led follow-up observations of this new object using the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC), the world's largest optical telescope located in La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain), along with ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray telescope, and coordinated the physical interpretation of the results.
Further details on ICE-CSIC web portal.
19-Jun-2023
White dwarf pulsar discovery confirms new class of star
The discovery of a new “pulsing” binary star system has shed new light on the evolution of stars while confirming a new exotic class of stellar object: the white dwarf pulsar. The follow-up investigation with the ESA satellite XMM-Newton revealed the pulsations in the high-energy X-ray regime, thus confirming the unusual nature of the new object and firmly establishing the white dwarf pulsars as a new class.
Further details on Interesting Engineering web portal.
10-Jun-2023
Astronomers investigate the properties of a nearby pulsar
Using the XMM-Newton satellite and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), astronomers have conducted X-ray and near-infrared observations of a nearby middle-aged pulsar known as PSR B1055-52. Results of the observational campaign, published on the arXiv preprint server, deliver essential information regarding the properties of this pulsar.
Further details on Phys.org web portal.
22-May-2023
An X-ray look at the heart of powerful quasars
Researchers have observed the X-ray emission of the most luminous quasar seen in the last 9 billion years of cosmic history, known as SMSS J114447.77-430859.3, or J1144 for short. The new perspective sheds light on the inner workings of quasars and how they interact with their environment. For this study, researchers combined observations from several space-based observatories: the eROSITA instrument on board the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) observatory, the ESA XMM-Newton observatory...
Further details on Phys.org web portal.
4-May-2023
The ultra-fast space winds that shape the evolution of galaxies
The research project is called SUBWAYS (SUper massive Black hole Winds in the x-rAYS) and the first results have been published in two papers in Astronomy & Astrophysics. The first of these, led by scholars from the University of Bologna and INAF, is mainly based on data obtained from ESA's XMM-Newton space telescope.
Further details on Phys.org web portal.
12-Apr-2023
Scientists map gusty winds in a far-off neutron star system
MIT astronomers mapped the “disk winds” associated with the accretion disk around Hercules X-1, a system in which a neutron star is drawing material away from a sun-like star, represented as the teal sphere. The findings may offer clues to how supermassive black holes shape entire galaxies.
Further details on Physics MIT web portal.
10-Apr-2023
Astronomers investigate X-ray spectral variability of active galaxy NGC 7582
Using ESA's XMM-Newton and NASA's NuSTAR space telescopes, astronomers have observed a nearby active galaxy known as NGC 7582. Results of the observational campaign, published March 30 on the arXiv pre-print server, shed more light on the X-ray spectral variability of NGC 7582's active galactic nucleus (AGN).
Further details on Phys.org web portal.
29-Mar-2023
Brightest gamma-ray burst illuminates our galaxy as never before
ESA space telescopes have observed the brightest gamma-ray burst ever seen. Data from this rare event could become instrumental in understanding the details of the colossal explosions that create gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)
Further details on ESA's Science & Exploration web portal.
28-Mar-2023
Astronomers discovered helium-burning white-dwarf
The team has found a binary star system in which matter flows onto the white dwarf from its companion. Bright, so-called supersoft X-rays that result from the nuclear fusion of the spilled gas close to the white dwarf’s surface led to the discovery of the system.
Further details on Tech Explorist web portal.
16-Mar-2023
Study sheds more light on the diffuse radio emission from the galaxy cluster Abell 1213
European astronomers have observed a galaxy cluster known as Abell 1213 using various spacecraft and ground-based facilities. [...] "We used optical SDSS data to study the internal dynamics of the cluster. We also analyzed archival XMM-Newton X-ray data to unveil the properties of its hot intracluster medium..."
Further details on Phys.org web portal.
9-Mar-2023
X-ray Vision workshop presentations
The X-ray Vision of the Energetic Universe, a joint IAU I-HOW and COSPAR Capacity Building Workshop in X-ray Astronomy, was held on February 6-17, 2023, in North-West University Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Further details on XMM-Newton web portal.
16-Feb-2023
Study investigates magnetic field of an extremely ultraluminous X-ray pulsar
Using NASA's Swift spacecraft and ESA's XMM-Newton satellite, astronomers have observed NGC 5907 ULX1—the most luminous ultra-luminous X-ray pulsar known to date. Results of the observational campaign, published February 7 on the pre-print server arXiv, shed more light on the magnetic field of this pulsar.
Further details on Phys.org web portal.
2-Feb-2023
Untangling a Knot of Galaxy Clusters
Astronomers have captured a spectacular, ongoing collision between at least three galaxy clusters. Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) XMM-Newton, and a trio of radio telescopes is helping astronomers sort out what is happening in this jumbled scene.
Further details on NASA's web portal.
1-Feb-2023
Curious comet’s rare close approach
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) today makes its closest approach to Earth before likely leaving our Solar System forever. Many ESA missions have been observing Comet ZTF, even those not focussed on Solar System science. XMM-Newton is one of them, one of the most powerful X-ray telescopes ever placed into orbit.
Further details on ESA's Space & Safety web portal.
23-Jan-2023
Meet the AAS Keynote Speakers: Prof. Erin Kara
At this year’s AAS meeting, Erin Kara is being honored with the 2022 Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy for her innovative and sustained contributions to high-energy astrophysics.
Further details on Astrobites web portal.
12-Jan-2023
XMM-Newton spies black holes eating the same stars again and again
Two teams of astronomers using ESA’s XMM-Newton space telescope have observed repeated outbursts of light from inactive black holes that partially destroy stars again and again. This discovery is unexpected, since outbursts of black holes usually appear only once when a black hole consumes a star.
Further details on ESA's Science & Exploration web portal.
