X-raying the Magellanic Clouds: a roadmap from XMM-Newton to Athena

The Magellanic Clouds are gas rich, irregular dwarf galaxies with active star formation histories. Because of the relatively short distance and low Galactic foreground extinction and absorption they are ideally suited for population studies of objects which are not always accessible in the Milky Way. Moreover, understanding the emission components of nearby galaxies is required to understand the unresolved emission from more distant galaxies. The XMM-Newton survey of the Magellanic Clouds have provided the deepest X-ray view of the inner regions of the Magellanic Clouds opening our windows to a systematic study of rich and diverse class of objects; predominantly HMXBs and SNRs. The eROSITA instrument onboard the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma satellite has finished its first four-sky surveys, which has provided a deep and complete coverage of the entire Magellanic system revolutionizing our understanding of our nearest star forming galaxies. I will present the first results in this regard including some newly discovered objects that are mainly HMXB pulsars, and a handful of peculiar systems i.e. HMXB pulsars found near the geometrical centre of their natal supernova remnant. Thanks to the very good spectral and spatial resolution coupled with its large effective area, Athena will be able to provide crucial insights into these systems as the X-ray binaries still in their propeller phase can be X-ray faint and requires high sensitivity to be detected. The parent SNRs can also be studied in much greater detail. The study will open windows into the birth properties of neutron star (NS) in binaries and probe the interaction between the accretion torque and the NS magnetic field at very low flux levels