A Deep X-ray Observation of the Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy

We propose a very deep (100 ks) XMMNewton observation of the Fornax DwarfSpheroidal galaxy. Our observational goal is to obtain Xray colors or spectrafor Xray sources down to a luminosity limit of virgul3x10^33 erg/s. This limit ismuch deeper than has been obtained in any previous Xray survey of low massXray binary (LMXB) sources, and enables us to detect LMXBs in quiescence. Ourprimary science goal is to test models of LMXB formation and evolution bysearching for sources that should have formed in past star formation episodesand testing StarTrack binary synthesis codes. The Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal is anexcellent candidate for this study because its star formation history isrelatively well determined and it is nearby. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]