XMM-Newton-NEWS


XMM-Newton-NEWS  #68,    24-Aug-2007

XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre at
ESA's European Space Astronomy Centre,
P.O. Box - Apdo. 78, 28691 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain

SOC Home Page: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/
Helpdesk web interface: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/xmm-newton-helpdesk
Helpdesk email address: xmmhelp@sciops.esa.int
News Mailing List: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/newsletter

Contents:


Please alert us to significant XMM-Newton results

The XMM-Newton team does not have dedicated resources to systematically monitor astro-ph and the published literature for exciting new results. Therefore we rely on our observers to alert us to interesting new material. ESA does have a team of public affairs officers who will help arrange appropriate publicity, but they can only go to work once they know a result is available.

Please remember that the public strongly supports astronomy in part because they enjoy seeing the fruit of our work!

Please contact us through the helpdesk: xmmhelp@sciops.esa.int

XMM-Newton Users' Handbook update for AO-7

The XMM-Newton Users' Handbook (UHB) has been updated to version 2.5 in preparation for the next Announcement of Opportunity (AO-7) and reflecting latest in-flight experience.

The AO-7 will open on the 28th of August 2007 with a due date for proposals on the 5th of October 2007 (12:00 UT) (for further details, see XMM-NEWTON NEWS #63).

The UHB contains information on the instrumentation on board XMM-Newton and serves as the main technical support document for proposal preparation, based on which potential XMM-Newton users can assess the technical feasibility of their planned observations.

The XMM-Newton Users' Handbook is available on-line at:

   http://xmm.esac.esa.int/external/xmm_user_support/documentation/uhb

Alternatively, postscript and PDF versions of the UHB can be downloaded from the "XMM-Newton Proposer's Info and Manuals" portal at:

   http://xmm.esac.esa.int/external/xmm_user_support/documentation

SAS 7.1.0 release: problems found and solved

We were able to solve quickly three problems which showed up in the SAS 7.1.0 release. Due to faulty compression scripts there were some packages missing in all binaries corresponding to SAS 7.1.0 and also - though affecting only Mac OSX users - there was a damaged library. In addition, several users reported crashes of the task eexpmap. For all three cases patches were quickly provided for the SAS binaries distribution. These require download and installation by the users. They are all documented under:

 http://xmm.esac.esa.int/sas

We regret any inconvenience caused.

Now available: XSA (v4.0) with newly reprocessed data and 2XMM catalogue

A new version of the XMM-Newton Science Archive (XSAv4.0) is now available ( http://xmm.esac.esa.int/xsa). It includes a full, uniform reprocessing of all XMM-Newton data with homogeneous software and calibration for a total number of 4540 public observations. It allows also users to access the second XMM-Newton EPIC Serendipitous Source Catalogue (2XMM).

First full pipeline reprocessing of XMM-Newton data

The XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre (SSC;  http://xmmssc-www.star.le.ac.uk/) has undertaken, during 2006/2007, a full reprocessing of all XMM-Newton observations, using a SAS version very close to the public SASv7.0 and the same set of calibration files. The processing includes a screening process of all individual datasets by SSC astronomers. The results of that screening are reflected in data quality reports. The quality reports have only recently been finalised and will only become accessible through the XSA user interface around the end of August 2007.

The XMM-Newton pipeline products include calibrated event lists for all X-ray cameras, as well as a number of higher-level products such as sky images, source lists, cross-correlations with archival catalogues (performed at the Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg). New products include extended source detection and parametrisation, as well as spectra and light curves for sufficiently bright sources (available in the PPS products suite). The 2XMM source catalogue has been constructed from public observations during this reprocessing.

For selected products (EPIC sky images, DSS finding charts, EPIC source spectra and light-curves, RGS spectra) quick-look icons in the XSA user interface allow users to get a first qualitative impression of the scientific quality of each individual observation or source.

2XMM

The second XMM-Newton EPIC Serendipitous Source Catalogue - 2XMM - is being released with XSAv4.0. It contains ~247000 detections (of ~192000 unique sources) from 3491 observations that were public by May 1st 2007, and covers a sky area of ~360 square degrees (allowing for overlaps). This represents an increase of approximately 55% in terms of unique sources compared with a preliminary version of the same catalogue ("2XMMp") released on July 2006. Of the total, 20837 detections are classified as extended, and spectra and time series have been extracted for 38320 detections, 2307 of which are considered to be variable. The positional uncertainty of the catalogue detections is generally < 2 arcseconds. Typical sensitivities in the 2XMM catalogue are ~6x10^{-15} and ~1.5x10^{-14} (cgs units) in the soft (0.2-2 keV) and hard (2-12 keV) X-ray band, respectively. The creation of the 2XMM catalogue was a joint venture carried out by the SSC consortium. Details of the catalogue and full 2XMM documentation is available at:

   http://xmmssc-www.star.le.ac.uk/Catalogue/2XMM

Alongside the XSA user interface, 2XMM is also available through:

XCATDB: http://amwdb.u-strasbg.fr/2xmm
LEDAS: http://www.ledas.ac.uk/

Update of the Slew Survey Catalogue

An update to the XMM-Newton Slew Catalogue (XMMSL1) is being released with XSAv4.0. This update (called "Delta-1") contains data from 109 slews mainly taken between Revolution 1200 and 1309, covering 3800 square degrees and containing 3482 detections. XMMSL1 now contains 8662 detections in the full catalogue and 4326 sources in the CLEAN catalogue. The sky coverage is 20%.

Release of a new version of "EPIC status of calibration and data analysis" document


Version 2.6 of the EPIC status of calibration and data analysis document has been released. This document reflects the improvements in the EPIC calibration with SAS7.1.0 and the newest CCFs. The document is available from the XMM-Newton Calibration Portal at:

   http://xmm.esac.esa.int/external/xmm_sw_cal/calib/


Yours sincerely,
XMM-Newton SOC