At the end of 2022, the eROSITA (extended Roentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array) instrument onboard Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma satellite completed its fourth (out of eight) survey of the full sky at X-ray wavelengths. At the mission completion, eROSITA will have performed eight all-sky surveys. The existing eROSITA data already surpass those coming from previous all-sky X-ray surveys, having much greater depth, image quality, and spectral coverage. The eROSITA data offer the opportunity to study extremely energetic events across vast scales in the Universe, from accreting binary systems at stellar scales to 10-million-degree shocks driven by galaxy cluster mergers. However, the full scientific exploitation of the eROSITA data requires a multi-wavelength approach. With a strong suite of local wide-field radio and optical astronomy surveys and facilities, the Australian community are well-placed to link with our German eROSITA colleagues in order to make the most of exciting new opportunities for multi-wavelength astronomy projects across the southern sky.
Image: The energetic universe as seen with the eROSITA X-ray telescope. Image credit: Jeremy Sanders, Hermann Brunner and the eSASS team (MPE); Eugene Churazov, Marat Gilfanov (on behalf of IKI).
