eROSITA (extended ROentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array) is the primary instrument on the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) mission, which was successfully launched on July 13, 2019, from the Baikonour cosmodrome. After the commissioning of the instrument and a subsequent calibration and performance verification phase, eROSITA started a survey of the entire sky on December 13, 2019. By the end of 2023, eight complete scans of the celestial sphere will have been performed, each lasting six months. At the end of this program, the eROSITA all-sky survey in the soft X-ray band (0.2-2.3 keV) will be about 25 times more sensitive than the ROSAT All-Sky Survey, while in the hard band (2.3-8 keV) it will provide the first ever true imaging survey of the sky. The eROSITA design driving science is the detection of large samples of galaxy clusters up to redshifts z > 1 in order to study the large-scale structure of the universe and test cosmological models including Dark Energy. In addition, eROSITA is expected to yield a sample of a few million AGNs, including obscured objects, revolutionizing our view of the evolution of supermassive black holes. The survey will also provide new insights into a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, including X-ray binaries, active stars, and diffuse emission within the Galaxy. Results from early observations, some of which are presented here, confirm that the performance of the instrument is able to fulfil its scientific promise. With this paper, we aim to give a concise description of the instrument, its performance as measured on ground, its operation in space, and also the first results from in-orbit measurements.

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Cyclotron resonance scattering features observed in the spectra of some X-ray pulsars show significant changes of the line energy with the pulsar luminosity. At high luminosities, these variations are often associated with the onset and growth of the accretion column, which is believed to be the origin of the observed emission and of the cyclotron lines. However, this scenario inevitably implies a large gradient of the magnetic field strength within the line-forming region, which makes the formation of the observed line-like features problematic. Moreover, the observed variation of the cyclotron line energy is much smaller than could be anticipated for the corresponding luminosity changes. We argue here that a more physically realistic situation is that the cyclotron line forms when the radiation emitted by the accretion column is reflected from the neutron star surface, where the gradient of the magnetic field strength is significantly smaller. Here we develop a reflection model and apply it to explain the observed variations of the cyclotron line energy in a bright X-ray pulsar V 0332+53 over a wide range of luminosities.

The hardness of the X-ray spectra of intermediate polars (IPs) is determined mainly by the white dwarf (WD) compactness (mass-radius ratio, M/R) and, thus, hard X-ray spectra can be used to constrain the WD mass. An accurate mass estimate requires the finite size of the WD magnetosphere R m to be taken into the account. We suggested to derive it either directly from the observed break frequency in power spectrum of X-ray or optical lightcurves of a polar, or assuming the corotation. Here we apply this method to all IPs observed by NuSTAR (10 objects) and Swift/BAT (35 objects). For the dwarf nova GK Per we also observe a change of the break frequency with flux, which allows to constrain the dependence of the magnetosphere radius on the mass-accretion rate. For our analysis we calculated an additional grid of twoparameter (M and R m /R) model spectra assuming a fixed, tall height of the accretion column H sh /R = 0.25, which is appropriate to determine WD masses in low mass-accretion IPs like EX Hya. Using the Gaia Data Release 2 we obtain for the first time reliable estimates of the mass-accretion rate and the magnetic field strength at the WD surface for a large fraction of objects in our sample. We find that most IPs accrete at rate of ∼ 10 −9 M yr −1 , and have magnetic fields in the range 1-10 MG. The resulting WD mass average of our sample is 0.79 ± 0.16 M , which is consistent with earlier estimates.

Aims. We present the results of the monitoring programmes performed with the Swift/XRT telescope and aimed specifically to detect an abrupt decrease of the observed flux associated with a transition to the propeller regime in two well-known X-ray pulsars 4U 0115+63 and V 0332+53. Methods. Both sources form binary systems with Be optical companions and undergo so-called giant outbursts every 3-4 years. The current observational campaigns were performed with the Swift/XRT telescope in the soft X-ray band (0.5-10 keV) during the declining phases of the outbursts exhibited by both sources in 2015.Results. The transitions to the propeller regime were detected at the threshold luminosities of (1.4 ± 0.4) × 10 36 erg s −1 and (2.0 ± 0.4) × 10 36 erg s −1 for 4U 0115+63 and V 0332+53, respectively. Spectra of the sources are shown to be significantly softer during the low state. In both sources, the accretion at rates close to the aforementioned threshold values briefly resumes during the periastron passage following the transition into the propeller regime. The strength of the dipole component of the magnetic field required to inhibit the accretion agrees well with estimates based on the position of the cyclotron lines in their spectra, thus excluding presence of a strong multipole component of the magnetic field in the vicinity of the neutron star.

In this paper we present the enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry mission. eXTP is a space science mission designed to study fundamental physics under extreme conditions of density, gravity and magnetism. The mission aims at determining the equation of state of matter at supra-nuclear density, measuring effects of QED, and understanding the dynamics of matter in strong-field gravity. In addition to investigating fundamental physics, eXTP will be a very powerful observatory for astrophysics that will provide observations of unprecedented quality on a variety of galactic and extragalactic objects. In particular, its wide field monitoring capabilities will be highly instrumental to detect the electro-magnetic counterparts of gravitational wave sources. The paper provides a detailed description of: 1) The technological and technical aspects, and the expected performance of the instruments of the scientific payload; 2) The elements and functions of the mission, from the spacecraft to the ground segment.X-ray instrumentation, X-ray Polarimetry, X-ray Timing, Space mission: eXTP PACS number(s): 95.55. Ka, 95.85.Nv, 95.75.Hi, 97.60.Jd, 97.60.Lf

Observed hard X-ray spectra of intermediate polars are determined mainly by the accretion flow velocity at the white dwarf surface, which is normally close to the free-fall velocity. This allows us to estimate the white dwarf masses as the white dwarf mass-radius relation M − R and the expected free-fall velocities at the surface are well known. This method is widely used. However, derived white dwarf masses M can be systematically underestimated because the accretion flow is stopped at, and re-accelerates from, the magnetospheric boundary R m and, therefore, its velocity at the surface is lower than free fall. To avoid this problem, we computed a two-parameter set of model hard X-ray spectra, which allows us to constrain a degenerate M − R m dependence. Previous works showed that power spectra of accreting X-ray pulsars and intermediate polars exhibit breaks at frequencies corresponding to Keplerian frequencies at the magnetospheric boundary. Therefore, the break frequency ν b in an intermediate polar power spectrum gives another relation in the M − R m plane. The intersection of the two dependences allows us, therefore, to determine the white dwarf mass and magnetospheric radius simultaneously. To verify the method, we analysed the archival Suzaku observation of EX Hya, obtaining M/M = 0.73 ± 0.06 and R m /R = 2.6 ± 0.4, which is consistent with the values determined by other authors. Subsequently, we applied the same method to a recent NuSTAR observation of another intermediate polar GK Per performed during an outburst and found M/M = 0.86 ± 0.02 and R m /R = 2.8 ± 0.2. The long duration observations of GK Per in quiescence performed by Swift/BAT and INTEGRAL observatories indicate increase of magnetosphere radius R m at lower accretion rates.