Cooling of the super-heated neutron star in MAXI J0556-332

Observing the cooling of neutron stars reheated by accretion provides unique insights into neutronstar structure. Here we propose to continue our observationsof the cooling neutron star in MAXI J0556332, a transient that had been accreting at near/superEddington rates for 16 months when it returned to quiescencein May 2012. XMM and Chandra observations in quiescence have revealed a rapidlycooling neutron star with by far the highest temperatures observed to date forsuch systems. We request an 80 ks XMM observation of MAXI J0556332 to investigate if the current rapid cooling starts evolving into a temperature plateau.Knowing when and at what temperature this occurs will help us in understandingthe properties of the neutronstar crust, as we start probing its deeper layers. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]