XEUS

XEUS is Europe's next generation X-ray observatory. Recently selected in ESA's Cosmic Vision exercise as an L-class mission, XEUS now enters a 2 year study phase. Prof. Nandra is a member of ESA's XEUS Science Study Team (XSST) and Chairs the XEUS Astrophysics Working Group (XAWG).

XEUS's main science goals are:

• How did supermassive black holes form and grow?
• How did feedback from these black holes influence galaxy growth?
• How did large scale structure evolve?
• How did the baryonic component of this structure become chemically enriched?
• How does gravity behave in the strong field limit?

A 1 Msec XEUS WFI observation of the Chandra Deep Field South, assuming a PSF HEW of 2". The HST ACS Ultradeep Field, the so far deepest optical image, is shown as an insert. To the left and right are X-ray spectra extracted for different objects from the same simulation. The upper left shows a Compton-thick object at z=7, similar to NGC 6240 with an Fe Kα equivalent width of 1.2 keV. At the lowerright is a L^X = 2 10⁴⁴ erg s^-1 QSO with an Fe-Kα emission line with a rest frame equivalent width of 200 eV in a narrow component and 300 eV in a Laor disk line at 30^o inclination. The relativistic shape of the line is clearly seen even at high z.

XEUS Links:

• ESA XEUS page
• XEUS Science Meeting at MPE Sep 17–19
• 2007 XEUS science meeting at Imperial College London
• XEUS on the Radio
• MPE XEUS page
• University of Leicester XEUS pages