Joint XMM/Chandra Accepted Cycle 22 Targets & Abstracts

Proposal Number Subject Category PI Name Chandra Time Title
22800002 CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES Dominique Eckert 70.00ks A deep XMM view of the violent low-mass merger XLSSC 105
22200007 STARS AND WD Andy Pollock 150.00ks WR140 at apastron - a benchmark for colliding-wind binaries and plasma physics

Subject Category: CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES
Proposal Number: 22800002
Title: A deep XMM view of the violent low-mass merger XLSSC 105
PI Name: Dominique Eckert
Abstract: We propose a deep XMM observation of the 10 14 M cluster XLSSC 105 at z = 0.43, which exhibits clear merging signatures in existing multi-wavelength data. The two peaks revealed by high-resolution SZ data do not have obvious counterparts in the existing shallow XMM data, which implies that this system is a high-velocity head-on merger along the plane of the sky. The two SZ peaks likely coincide with high-temperature (> 20 keV) shock-heated regions. We propose a deep (175 ks) XMM observation of this system to measure the temperature of the gas in the shocked regions and constrain the geometry of the merger, together with a joint 70ks Chandra high-resolution observation to detect the density jumps.

Proposal Number: 22200007
Subject Category: STARS AND WD
Title: WR140 at apastron - a benchmark for colliding-wind binaries and plasma physics
PI Name: Andy Pollock
Abstract: The X-ray spectrum of the colliding-wind binary WR 140 at apastron is produced under benign conditions of minimum density and minimum orbital velocity and forms the initial plasma state from which subsequent evolution occurs. The star's precise orbit, exceptional X-ray brightness, rich observational history and characteristic X-ray temperature very similar to that of the Perseus Cluster of Galaxies make it the ideal reference for calibration of models of plasmas produced under dynamical and thermodynamical conditions similar to those that hold in a variety of prominent X-ray sources. As well as precise tests of predicted photometry, a joint RGS-HETG high-resolution spectrum will test a predicted emission-line redshift at apastron.