The NewAthena mission concept in the context of the next decade of X-ray astronomy

Understand

Large X-ray observatories such as Chandra and XMM-Newton have been delivering scientific breakthroughs in research fields as diverse as our Solar System, the astrophysics of stars, stellar explosions and compact objects, accreting super-massive black holes, and large-scale structures traced by the hot plasma permeating and surrounding galaxy groups and clusters.

• The recently launched observatory XRISM is opening in earnest the new observational window of non-dispersive high-resolution spectroscopy.
• However, several quests are left open, such as the effect of the stellar radiation field on the habitability of nearby planets, the Equation-of-State regulating matter in neutron stars, the origin and distribution of metals in the Universe, the processes driving the cosmological evolution of the baryons locked in the gravitational potential of Dark Matter and the impact of supermassive black hole growth on galaxy evolution, just to mention a few.
• Furthermore, X-ray astronomy is a key player in multi-messenger astrophysics.