FOR 2990:  The eROSITA View of Stellar Endpoints (eRO-STEP)

• Subject Area: Physics
• Term: since 2021
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 414059771

eROSITA (extended ROentgen survey with an Imaging Telescope Array) is an X-ray telescope which was launched onboard the Spektr-RG satellite in July 2019 and carries out the first imaging all-sky survey in the X-ray band of 0.2 - 10.0 keV. The Research Unit will be formed by members of the core-institutes of the ROSITA consortium and will be dedicated to the study of X-ray emission of stellar endpoints, i.e., white dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes, as well as supernova remnants and the interstellar medium in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds. Based on data of the eROSITA all-sky survey we will investigate the origin and nature of the diffuse X-ray emission and the X-ray source populations in galaxies. During the first funding period of the Research Unit, the entire sky will be observed with eROSITA 6 to 7 times (3.5 of 4 years of the all-sky survey). We will develop specific analysis methods for each project and carry out studies of, e.g., brighter objects or transient sources. The long-term aim of the Research Unit is to have a complete census and comprehension of X-ray sources in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds down to a flux limit of F = 10^-14 erg cm^-2 s^-1, to constrain the physics of large interstellar structures, and to improve our understanding of interstellar shocks and particle acceleration. We will have access to complementary data of optical surveys like SDSS or 4MOST and additional multi-wavelength observations. The analysis methods and soft wares, which will be developed in the projects of the Research Unit will also allow both the eROSITA consortium and the broad science community to fully exploit the eROSITA all-sky survey.

• DFG Programme: Research Units

Projects

• Accreting Black Holes and Neutron Stars in the Milky Way (Applicants Doroshenko, Victor ;  Wilms, Jörn )
• Bubbles and Diffuse X-ray Emission (Applicants Freyberg, Michael ;  Sasaki, Manami ;  Schmitt, Jürgen H.M.M. )
• Coordination Funds (Applicant Sasaki, Manami )
• Infrastructure Workpackage: eROSITA Observations of Transient and Persistent Compact Objects and Stars (Applicant Wilms, Jörn )
• Supernova Remnants in the eROSITA All-Sky Survey (Applicants Becker, Werner ;  Pühlhofer, Gerd ;  Sasaki, Manami )
• The evolution of Cataclysmic Variables and their contribution to the Galactic Ridge X-ray Emission (Applicants Schwope, Axel ;  Stelzer, Beate )
• Unveiling the X-ray faint end of the Isolated Neutron Star Population (Applicant Schwope, Axel )

• Spokesperson: Professorin Dr. Manami Sasaki