Third Party Funds Group - Overall project
Acronym: FOR 2990 eROSITA
Start date : 01.07.2021
End date : 29.02.2028
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.