088090

We propose a 70 ks XMM-Newton observation with simultaneous NuSTAR coverage of the HMXB GX 301-2 at phi = 0.5-0.7 at apastron of the highly eccentric orbit when the wind of the companion is less disturbed by tidal interaction with the neutron star and the source is bright enough to enable studies of short-term absorption variability. This will only be the second XMM-Newton observation of GX 301-2 and the first outside of the pre-periastron flare. It will allow us to study the structure of the dense slow wind of the B1 Ia+ companion Wray 997 and to probe wind accretion in such an extreme environment. We will additionally illuminate the properties of the accretion columns through pulse-phase resolved spectroscopy and through variability studies of the cyclotron lines. [truncated! Please see actual data for full text]