Größter Katalog astronomischer Röntgenquellen veröffentlicht
Die Abbildung zeigt einen Himmelsatlas der einzelnen Röntgenbeobachtungen mit XMM-Newton. Jeder Punkt am Himmel symbolisiert eine Beobachtung im Röntgenlicht. Das jeweils untersuchte Gebiet gleicht etwa der Größe des Vollmondes. Besonders häufig wurden das Zentrum unserer Milchstraße, die galaktische Ebene (Bildmitte) und unsere Nachbargalaxien, die Magellanschen Wolken (rechts unten) anvisiert. Einige der Röntgenstrahlung aussendenden exotischen Objekte sind künstlerisch dargestellt.
Bild: XMM-SSCEine systematische Untersuchung aller bislang mit dem Röntgengroßobservatorium XMM-Newton (ESA) durchgeführten Beobachtungen führte zum weltweit größten Katalog von Röntgenquellen, der nun in einer Neuauflage vom XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre unter Beteiligung des AIP veröffentlicht wurde. Der Katalog 3XMM-DR5 enthält 565.962 Objekte, von nahen Quellen innerhalb des Sonnensystems bis hin zu supermassereichen Schwarzen Löchern am “Rande” des Universums. Zu jeder einzelnen dieser Detektionen stehen umfangreiche Informationen zur Verfügung. Damit gibt 3XMM-DR5 Aufschluss über die Natur der beobachteten Röntgenquellen und erlaubt die Entdeckung vieler neuer extremer Objekte.
Sources that are bright in X-ray light are amongst the most energetic in the Universe. The European Space Agency's highly sensitive XMM-Newton X-ray observatory detects 50-100 X-ray sources in a region of the sky that is the same size as the full moon, and there are around 600 such observations per year. Many of the detections turn out to be objects that have never previously been observed.
Axel Schwope, team lead at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), which is responsible for the source detection software, says: “50 years ago just a handful of X-ray sources were known and scientist entered unchartered territory. Now, with half a million sources, one can make on the one hand a census of the more common objects and on the other hand search for very rare exotic objects.” Iris Traulsen, project scientist at AIP, adds: “Our source detection software is an important tool for those searches. It was continuously improved over the last years, an effort that led to an ever enhanced precision of the detection process.”
The X-ray sources in the XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue are objects such as supermassive black holes guzzling the gas and dust that surrounds them in the centres of galaxies, exploding stars and dead stars that have collapsed to tight balls of exotic material that are as dense as the atomic nucleus and rotate up to 1000 times per second. However, new and exotic objects are expected to be found, based on results from previous smaller versions of the catalogue.
Indeed, during the methodical data validation phase, two new extreme binary systems, known as polars were discovered. These systems contain a star like our Sun and the remains of a star that has collapsed into a 'white dwarf'. The two objects orbit each other (much like the Earth and the Moon) and the white dwarf is so dense (1 million times the density of water!) that it strips the outer layers from its companion star through its huge gravitational field. This gas and dust gets caught in the white dwarf's extra-strong magnetic field (ten million times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field) causing it to heat up and radiate strongly in the X-ray domain. In the extreme case, it is possible that so much matter can fall onto the white dwarf that it would no longer be able to support its own weight, therefore such kind of objects are candidates progenitors for type Ia supernova explosions. These explosions allow astronomers to measure the distance to remote objects in the Universe.
Natalie Webb from the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP, Toulouse, France), who is responsible for the XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre that produces the catalogue, enthuses: “This is just the tip of the iceberg – there are many more new and exciting objects waiting to be discovered in the catalogue!”
In order for scientists to make the most of the catalogue, a scientific paper submitted to the European Journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, written by the XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre consortium, describing the catalogue and its products accompanies the release of this prestigious catalogue, along with a new version of the XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre webpages.
Resources:
The XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre webpages and catalogue access: http://xmmssc.irap.omp.eu/
The paper describing the catalogue: 'The XMM-Newton serendipitous survey VI. The third XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue', S. R. Rosen, N. A. Webb, M. G. Watson et al., A&A.
Science contact AIP: Dr. Axel Schwope,+49 331 7499-232, aschwope@aip.de
Media contact AIP: Dr. Janine Fohlmeister, +49 331 7499-383, presse@aip.de
Media contact XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre: Dr. Natalie Webb, Natalie.Webb@irap.omp.eu
Die Abbildung zeigt einen Himmelsatlas der einzelnen Röntgenbeobachtungen mit XMM-Newton. Jeder Punkt am Himmel symbolisiert eine Beobachtung im Röntgenlicht. Das jeweils untersuchte Gebiet gleicht etwa der Größe des Vollmondes. Besonders häufig wurden das Zentrum unserer Milchstraße, die galaktische Ebene (Bildmitte) und unsere Nachbargalaxien, die Magellanschen Wolken (rechts unten) anvisiert. Einige der Röntgenstrahlung aussendenden exotischen Objekte sind künstlerisch dargestellt.
Bild: XMM-SSCEine systematische Untersuchung aller bislang mit dem Röntgengroßobservatorium XMM-Newton (ESA) durchgeführten Beobachtungen führte zum weltweit größten Katalog von Röntgenquellen, der nun in einer Neuauflage vom XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre unter Beteiligung des AIP veröffentlicht wurde. Der Katalog 3XMM-DR5 enthält 565.962 Objekte, von nahen Quellen innerhalb des Sonnensystems bis hin zu supermassereichen Schwarzen Löchern am “Rande” des Universums. Zu jeder einzelnen dieser Detektionen stehen umfangreiche Informationen zur Verfügung. Damit gibt 3XMM-DR5 Aufschluss über die Natur der beobachteten Röntgenquellen und erlaubt die Entdeckung vieler neuer extremer Objekte.
Sources that are bright in X-ray light are amongst the most energetic in the Universe. The European Space Agency's highly sensitive XMM-Newton X-ray observatory detects 50-100 X-ray sources in a region of the sky that is the same size as the full moon, and there are around 600 such observations per year. Many of the detections turn out to be objects that have never previously been observed.
Axel Schwope, team lead at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), which is responsible for the source detection software, says: “50 years ago just a handful of X-ray sources were known and scientist entered unchartered territory. Now, with half a million sources, one can make on the one hand a census of the more common objects and on the other hand search for very rare exotic objects.” Iris Traulsen, project scientist at AIP, adds: “Our source detection software is an important tool for those searches. It was continuously improved over the last years, an effort that led to an ever enhanced precision of the detection process.”
The X-ray sources in the XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue are objects such as supermassive black holes guzzling the gas and dust that surrounds them in the centres of galaxies, exploding stars and dead stars that have collapsed to tight balls of exotic material that are as dense as the atomic nucleus and rotate up to 1000 times per second. However, new and exotic objects are expected to be found, based on results from previous smaller versions of the catalogue.
Indeed, during the methodical data validation phase, two new extreme binary systems, known as polars were discovered. These systems contain a star like our Sun and the remains of a star that has collapsed into a 'white dwarf'. The two objects orbit each other (much like the Earth and the Moon) and the white dwarf is so dense (1 million times the density of water!) that it strips the outer layers from its companion star through its huge gravitational field. This gas and dust gets caught in the white dwarf's extra-strong magnetic field (ten million times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field) causing it to heat up and radiate strongly in the X-ray domain. In the extreme case, it is possible that so much matter can fall onto the white dwarf that it would no longer be able to support its own weight, therefore such kind of objects are candidates progenitors for type Ia supernova explosions. These explosions allow astronomers to measure the distance to remote objects in the Universe.
Natalie Webb from the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP, Toulouse, France), who is responsible for the XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre that produces the catalogue, enthuses: “This is just the tip of the iceberg – there are many more new and exciting objects waiting to be discovered in the catalogue!”
In order for scientists to make the most of the catalogue, a scientific paper submitted to the European Journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, written by the XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre consortium, describing the catalogue and its products accompanies the release of this prestigious catalogue, along with a new version of the XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre webpages.
Resources:
The XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre webpages and catalogue access: http://xmmssc.irap.omp.eu/
The paper describing the catalogue: 'The XMM-Newton serendipitous survey VI. The third XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue', S. R. Rosen, N. A. Webb, M. G. Watson et al., A&A.
Science contact AIP: Dr. Axel Schwope,+49 331 7499-232, aschwope@aip.de
Media contact AIP: Dr. Janine Fohlmeister, +49 331 7499-383, presse@aip.de
Media contact XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre: Dr. Natalie Webb, Natalie.Webb@irap.omp.eu
Bilder
Die Abbildung zeigt einen Himmelsatlas der einzelnen Röntgenbeobachtungen mit XMM-Newton. Jeder Punkt am Himmel symbolisiert eine Beobachtung im Röntgenlicht. Das jeweils untersuchte Gebiet gleicht etwa der Größe des Vollmondes. Besonders häufig wurden das Zentrum unserer Milchstraße, die galaktische Ebene (Bildmitte) und unsere Nachbargalaxien, die Magellanschen Wolken (rechts unten) anvisiert. Einige der Röntgenstrahlung aussendenden exotischen Objekte sind künstlerisch dargestellt.
