Related papers: The Hot and Energetic Universe: Luminous extragala…
Stars over a wide range of masses and evolutionary stages are nowadays known to emit X-rays. This X-ray emission is a unique probe of the most energetic phenomena occurring in the circumstellar environment of these stars, and provides…
The high resolution non-dispersive spectroscopy and unprecedented sensitivity of Athena+ will revolutionize solar system observing: the origin of the ions producing Jupiter's X-ray aurorae via charge exchange will be conclusively…
White dwarfs, neutron stars and stellar mass black holes are key laboratories to study matter in most extreme conditions of gravity and magnetic field. The unprecedented effective area of Athena+ will allow us to advance our understanding…
The Advanced Telescope for High-energy Astrophysics (Athena+) is being proposed to ESA as the L2 mission (for a launch in 2028) and is specifically designed to answer two of the most pressing questions for astrophysics in the forthcoming…
The study of both supernova remnants and the hot and cold phases of the interstellar medium are essential for understanding the final stages of stellar evolution and their feedback on the evolution of galaxies through injection of energy…
The properties (temperature, density, chemical composition, velocity) of hot astrophysical plasma and the physical processes affecting them (heating/cooling, turbulence, shocks, acceleration) can be probed by high resolution X-ray…
Most of the action in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) occurs within a few tens of gravitational radii from the supermassive black hole, where matter in the accretion disk may lose up to almost half of its energy with a copious production of…
X-ray spectroscopy is key to address the theme of "The Hot Universe", the still poorly understood astrophysical processes driving the cosmological evolution of the baryonic hot gas traceable through its electromagnetic radiation. Two future…
Observations in the last decade have provided strong evidence that the growth of supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies is among the most influential processes in galaxy evolution. Open questions that relate to our current…
Athena is an X-ray observatory-class mission concept, developed from April to December 2011 as a result of the reformulation exercise for L-class mission proposals in the framework of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025. Athena's science case is…
This White Paper, submitted to the recent ESA call for science themes to define its future large missions, advocates the need for a transformational leap in our understanding of two key questions in astrophysics: 1) How does ordinary matter…
In this paper we explore the scientific synergies between Athena and some of the key multi-messenger facilities that should be operative concurrently with Athena. These facilities include LIGO A+, Advanced Virgo+ and future detectors for…
Mechanical feedback via Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) jets in the centres of galaxy groups and clusters is a crucial ingredient in current models of galaxy formation and cluster evolution. Jet feedback is believed to regulate gas cooling and…
The Athena+ mission concept is designed to implement the Hot and Energetic Universe science theme submitted to the European Space Agency in response to the call for White Papers for the definition of the L2 and L3 missions of its science…
A crucial challenge in astrophysics over the coming decades will be to understand the origins of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) that lie at the centres of most, if not all, galaxies. The processes responsible for the initial formation of…
The Advanced Telescope for High ENergy Astrophysics (Athena) is the X-ray observatory mission selected by ESA within its Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme to address the Hot and Energetic Universe scientific theme. The ESO-Athena Synergy…
Gamma-ray astronomy is a branch whose potential has not yet been fully exploited. The observations of elemental and isotopic abundances in supernova (SN) explosions are key probes not only of the stellar structure and evolution but also for…
The backbone of the large-scale structure of the Universe is determined by processes on a cosmological scale and by the gravitational interaction of the dominant dark matter. However, the mobile baryon population shapes the appearance of…
The evolution of cosmic structures, the formation and growth of the first black holes and the connection to their baryonic environment are key unsolved problems in astrophysics. The X-ray Athena mission and the gravitational-wave Laser…
We have performed targeted searches of known extragalactic transient events at millimetre wavelengths using nine seasons (2013--2021) of 98, 150, and 229\,GHz Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) observations that mapped ${\sim}40$ per cent of…