Abstract for Proposal 088395

Investigating hard X-ray transients in the Magellanic Cloud System

The Magellanic Clouds (MCs) harbour a large sample of Be/X-ray binaries (BeXRBs) at a moderate distance with low Galactic foreground absorption. In the course of the eROSITA all-sky surveys the MCs and the Magellanic Bridge (MB) are scanned frequently. This provides the unique opportunity to detect high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) systems during outburst in the full Magellanic System (MS), as already demonstrated during the first survey (eRASS1). To continue our AO19 program (which covers eRASS2 and eRASS3), we propose five 20 ks triggered XMM-Newton observations of new or unexplored HMXBs in the MS. Our goal is to study their spectral and temporal properties, to continue the build-up of large statistical samples of these sources in both clouds and in particular in the MB.



Details on Observing Strategy and Trigger Criteria
HMXB in the Magellanic Cloud Sytem in outburst with luminosity exceeding 5x10E35 erg/s. Observation to be performed within 5 days after trigger.