XMM-Newton Phase II RPS Users Manual

4.6 Recommended order of entries

Based on the schematic for an observation suggested in § 3.2 and on the navigation tools provided by XRPS, it is advantageous to insert a proposal by making entries in the following order:

1. Complete and update all details of PI and Co-Investigators.

2. Once completed, start working on the first observation by filling out the Observation page. Time constraints can also be provided at this point, but may also be added later.

3. On the Observation page, the above-mentioned (§ 4.5.1) buttons, are available to add exposures for the different XMM-Newton science instruments.

   The SOC strongly suggests to follow your observing schematic (§ 3.2) by rows, i.e., fill in first all exposures for one instrument (say, EPIC MOS-1), then the next (EPIC MOS-2 and EPIC pn), followed by those for RGS-1, RGS-2 and OM. For each of the six science instruments, the exposures should best be sorted chronologically. Exposure details, if any, can be added to exposures at any time. This order of making entries is favourable for various reasons:

   • Filling in exposures on a by-instrument basis, makes it easier to ensure that each instrument is used during the entire duration of the observation, thus maximising the efficiency of the instrument use.
   • Identifying exposures, when going back to make changes, is easiest when they are sorted first by instrument (Fig. 5).

   Note: It is also possible to add exposures for all the X-ray instruments by clicking ''Add Standard Exposures'', where the instrument's overhead time and exposure duration are calculated automatically (see § 5.2.4).

4. Only after one observation is completely finished, users should start making entries for the next. In case of similar observations (e.g., when observing a sample of objects with similar properties) it is then possible to copy the first observation and reuse the template created this way, just editing (changing) the entries to apply the required adjustments. Adding exposures (at the end of the list) is easy. Deleting unwanted exposures is also possible, using the ''Delete Exposure'' button.

Note: When deleting observations / exposures, XRPS does not automatically rename all others to fill the resulting gap in the numbering scheme. A new observation / exposure, even if it is meant to fill a gap produced by a deletion, will be appended at the end of the observations / exposure list of a proposal / observation, with a number 1 higher than that of the last observation / exposure in the existing list. Therefore, if an observation / exposure (or the detailed information associated with it) must be changed, it is much better to edit the entries accordingly instead of deleting and replacing it.

The actual order in which different exposures with the same instrument are performed can be controlled with the ''Order'' parameter (see e.g. § 5.2.4.1).

The following chapter (§ 5) is a step-by-step guide through XRPS; examples are provided in appendix A.