XMM-Newton-NEWS


XMM-Newton-NEWS  #71,    28-Nov-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:


XMM-Newton Conference "The X-ray Universe 2008"

The XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre is organising a major astrophysical symposium from Tuesday 27th to Friday 30th May 2008 in Granada, Spain.

The symposium will be a successor to the "The X-ray Universe 2005" meeting held in 2005 near Madrid and its main focus will be on high energy astrophysics. It will provide a showcase for results and discoveries not only from XMM-Newton, Chandra and Suzaku but also from other current missions. The scientific potential of future projects like XEUS will be discussed at the conference.

The start of registration and abstract submission is planned for January 2008. The exact dates will be announced in December 2007.

More information can be found at:
   http://xmm.esac.esa.int/external/xmm_science/workshops/2008symposium/

XMM-Newton mission extension approved

In the last meeting of ESA's Science Programme Committee (SPC) from the 12th to the 13th of November 2007, delegates unanimously voted for the extension of XMM-Newton until the 31st of December 2012.

An ESA Space Science news release informing about this decision is available at:
   http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMO6R53R8F_index_0.html

The SPC meeting was the final hurdle to take after two advisory committees already formulated and adopted the recommendation to extend XMM-Newton.

The Astronomical Working Group (AWG) formulated during their meeting on the 9th and 10th of October 2007 a strong recommendation to extend the XMM-Newton mission for 2.75 years. In this way, in future the extension time frames of XMM-Newton and Integral are coordinated.

The Space Science Advisory Committee (SSAC) unanimously adopted the recommendation of the AWG during their meeting on the 16th and 17th of October 2007.

A big thank you to everyone supporting XMM-Newton and involved in making this extension possible.

XMM-Newton Image Gallery in Google Earth

In the previous issue of the XMM-Newton News we announced the possibility of displaying the XMM-Newton Gallery, a collection of astronomical images and spectra taken with the XMM-Newton X-ray and optical instruments, (see http://xmm.esac.esa.int/external/xmm_science/gallery/public/ ) in association with the corresponding celestial target objects in Google Earth.

The XMM-Newton Gallery is now listed on the "Google Earth" web page as one of the "featured files in the Google Earth Gallery" in category "Google Earth KML: Sky".

To see the gallery go to:
   http://earth.google.com/gallery/kml_entry.html#tXMM-Newton%20Gallery
and enjoy the XMM-Newton images projected onto the sky.

ESA Young Graduate Trainee Opportunities

The European Space Agency's Young Graduate Trainee (YGT) programme offers recently graduated men and women, a one-year non-renewable training contract designed to give valuable work experience and to prepare for future employment in the space industry and/or research.

The YGT Programme is open to recently graduated young men and women, nationals of ESA Member States and its Cooperating States. Applicants should have just completed, or be in their final year, of a higher education course typically at Masters level and probably in a technical or scientific discipline at a university or equivalent institute. They should be fluent in either English or French, which are the official languages of the Agency.

Two YGT positions are currently available at the XMM-Newton Science Operation Centre at ESAC. The description of the two positions can be found under http://www.esa.int/hr/ygt.htm (Data and Image Analysis/XMM-Newton: ESA/YG-ESOC(2007)012 and Development of the XMM-Newton Scientific Analysis System: ESA/YG-ESOC(2007)013).

More information on the YGT Programme can be found at:
   http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Careers_at_ESA/SEMRS5XO4HD_0.html

The deadline for applications is 14 December 2007.

ESA Research Fellowships in Space Science

The European Space Agency awards several postdoctoral fellowships each year. The aim of these fellowships is to provide young scientists, holding a PhD or the equivalent degree, with the means of performing space science research in fields related to the ESA Science Programme. Areas of research include planetary science, astronomy and astrophysics, solar and solar-terrestrial science, plasma physics and fundamental physics. The fellowships are tenable at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, Netherlands, or at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Villafranca del Castillo, near Madrid, Spain.

Astronomy and Astrophysics research opportunities with XMM-Newton science staff at ESAC include: Research on high energy emission of (massive) stars, X-ray binaries, galaxies, AGNs and high resolution X-ray spectroscopy using XMM-Newton data [contact Norbert Schartel ( ) for details].

Applications are now solicited for fellowships in space science to begin in the summer or fall of 2008. Preference will be given to applications submitted by candidates within five years of receiving their PhD. Candidates not holding a PhD yet are encouraged to apply, but they must provide evidence of receiving their degree before starting the fellowship.

The deadline for applications is 21 January 2008.

More information on the ESA Research Fellowship programme in Space Science, on the conditions and eligibility, as well as the application form can be found on the world-wide web at this address:
   http://www.rssd.esa.int/fellowship

Conference Announcement: "The Local Bubble and Beyond II"

The US XMM-Newton Guest Observer Facility is pleased to announce the conference

"The Local Bubble and Beyond II"

to be held the week of 2008 April 21-24th in Philadelphia. As the name suggests, this will be a successor to the "The Local Bubble and Beyond" (LB&B) meeting held in 1997 near Munich. The substantial increase in observational data about the Local Bubble in all wavebands along with progress in theoretical models suggest that the time is right for another meeting focused on Local Bubble issues.

Topics that will be covered at the meeting include:

More information can be found at:
   http://lbb.gsfc.nasa.gov



Yours sincerely,
XMM-Newton SOC