Abstract for Proposal 088367

Identifying Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients with XMM-Newton

We propose to trigger three XMM-Newton follow-up observations on 3 known transient sources discovered by INTEGRAL, candidate Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients, if they undergo a new outburst. We ask for 40 ks per observation to obtain a high-quality, full characterization of their X-ray emission. The targets lack a confirmed soft X-ray counterpart. XMM-Newton capabilities are essential in confirming their SFXT nature, catching X-ray flares during uninterrupted observations, measuring their timescales, emitted energy and peak luminosity. The proposed observations will allow us to enlarge the sample of confirmed SFXTs, putting significant constraints on the different theoretical models proposed to explain their extreme variability.

Details on Observing Strategy and Trigger Criteria
Trigger criteria: 1)-an unabsorbed flux of at least 5x10^-11 erg/cm2/s (0.3-10 keV), assuming a power law with a photon index=2, and the appropriate absorbing column densities reported in the proposal for each target, OR 2)-a detection of at least 30 mCrab caught by any hard X-ray instrument (30-60 keV). Reaction time: less than 3 working days. EPIC pn in Full Frame.