XMM-Newton Essentials
The European Space Agency's (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) was launched by an Ariane 504 on December 10th 1999. XMM-Newton is ESA's second cornerstone of the Horizon 2000 Science Programme. It carries 3 high throughput X-ray telescopes with an unprecedented effective area, and an optical monitor, the first flown on a X-ray observatory. The large collecting area and ability to make long uninterrupted exposures provide highly sensitive observations.

Since Earth's atmosphere blocks out all X-rays, only a telescope in space can detect and study celestial X-ray sources. The XMM-Newton mission is helping scientists to solve a number of cosmic mysteries, ranging from the enigmatic black holes to the origins of the Universe itself. Observing time on XMM-Newton is being made available to the scientific community, applying for observational periods on a competitive basis.

Read more about the spacecraft, mirrors and instruments and about the XMM-Newton SOC.

Version 13.0 of the Science Analysis System (SAS) released , 09-May-2013 New

Update on the MOS1-CCD3 event of December 2012, 09-May-2013 New

XMM-Newton AO-12 Long Term Plan, 30-Apr-2013

Users Group meeting #14: Invitation from UG to contact them for comments, 16-Apr-2013

XMM-Newton 2013 Science Workshop: Financial Support for Students (deadline 21st April) and Science Programme available , 16-Apr-2013

Publishing XMM-Newton Results, 16-Apr-2013

Black Hole-Star pair orbiting at dizzying speed, 19-Mar-2013
ESA’s XMM-Newton space telescope has helped to identify a star and a black hole that orbit each other at the dizzying rate of once every 2.4 hours, smashing the previous record by nearly an hour.
Further details on the ESA Space Science pages.

Speedy black hole holds galaxy's history, 27-Feb-2013
A rapidly rotating supermassive black hole has been found in the heart of a spiral galaxy by ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s NuSTAR space observatories, opening a new window into how galaxies grow.
Further details on the ESA Space Science pages.

13th XMM-Newton SAS Workshop, 22-Feb-2013

Communicating your XMM-Newton results, 22-Feb-2013

Conference Announcement: "Science Operations 2013", 22-Feb-2013

XMM-Newton Workshop 2013: Second Announcement, 13-Feb-2013

X-raying the Eskimo, 11-Feb-2013
Peering inside the fur-lined hood of the Eskimo Nebula with ESA’s XMM-Newton space observatory reveals a hot face of X-ray-emitting gas blazing at 2 million degrees.
Further details on the ESA Space Science pages.

Massive stellar winds are made of tiny pieces, 05-Feb-2013
ESA's XMM-Newton space observatory has completed the most detailed study ever of the fierce wind from a giant star, showing for the first time that it is not a uniform breeze but is fragmented into hundreds of thousands of pieces.
Further details on the ESA Space Science pages.

Baffling pulsar leaves astronomers in the dark, 24-Jan-2013
New observations of a highly variable pulsar using ESA's XMM-Newton are perplexing astronomers. Monitoring this pulsar simultaneously in X-rays and radio waves, astronomers have revealed that this source, whose radio emission is known to 'switch on and off' periodically, exhibits the same behaviour, but in reverse, when observed at X-ray wavelengths. It is the first time that a switching X-ray emission has been detected from a pulsar, and the properties of this emission are unexpectedly puzzling.
Further details on the ESA Science & Technology pages.

Anticipated timeline for AO-13, 18-Dec-2012

13^th XMM-Newton SAS Workshop, 18-Dec-2012

EPIC MOS1 Event of Revolution 2382, 18-Dec-2012

X-ray astronomers celebrate 50 years of observing the warmest sky, 14-Dec-2012
Only 50 years ago X-ray astronomy did not exist. The scientific community celebrates this year the first observation, in 1962, of a cosmic x-ray source apart from the Sun. ESA's x-ray observatory XMM-Newton has had a key part in the flood of breakthroughs that followed.
Further details on the XMM-Newton SOC pages.

Greedy black hole discovered in Andromeda, 12-Dec-2012
Studying the Andromeda galaxy with ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray space observatory, astronomers have discovered a new bright X-ray source that hosts a stellar-mass black hole accreting mass at a very high rate.
Further details on the ESA Science & Technology pages.