XMM-Newton-NEWS


XMM-Newton-NEWS  #89,    10-Mar-2009

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 Workshop "Supersoft X-ray Sources - New Developments":
deadline for abstract submission

As announced in issue #80 of the XMM-Newton Newsletter, the XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre is organising an astrophysical workshop from Monday 18th to Wednesday 20th May 2009 at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) close to Madrid, Spain.

This is a reminder on the approaching deadline for abstract submission:

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACTS BY FRIDAY, 13th of MARCH.

See the workshop website for more information:

     https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/2009-workshop/

Fix of a problem found in time correlation files (TCX) from XMM-Newton
observations from revolutions 1435 to 1572

The time correlation (TCX) files are the ODF constituents which provide the link of the XMM-Newton on-board time to Universal Time. It has recently been discovered that TCX currently stored in the XMM-Newton Science Archive (XSA) and with observation date ranging from October 10, 2007 to July 9, 2008 (revolutions 1435-1572) are affected by a computational problem. This problem may induce absolute timing errors of up to 600 microseconds. This problem was also mentioned in the EPIC status of calibration and data analysis document, issue 2.7.3, announced in XMM-Newton Newsletter #88, and related SAS watchout item available at

     http://xmm2.esac.esa.int/sas/8.0.0/watchout/ODF/tcx_problems.shtml

The computational problem is now understood and fixed. Regeneration of ODFs with the correct TCX constituent is currently underway, and is expected to be completed by the end of May 2009. PIs of observations which are still proprietary will receive a notification after ingestion on the XSA of the re-generated ODFs.

The scientific analysis of observations using affected TCX files before the fix is done will only be impacted if the results depend on the knowledge of the absolute timing of registered X-ray events with a precision of better than the mentioned 600 microseconds. PIs of such observations and who prefer not to wait until ODFs are re-generated are suggested to contact XMM-Newton SOC via e-mail to providing a short explanation of their needs and specifying the observation ID in the subject of the message.

Regeneration of time correlation files (TCX) from XMM-Newton
observations before revolution 1435

Following the correction of the TCX files from XMM-Newton revolutions 1435 to 1572 (see previous item of this Newsletter), all the TCX files since the beginning of the mission will be re-generated. This "bulk regeneration" exercise will allow us to populate the XSA archive with ODF files including updated time correlation constituents. As a result, XSA will contain data of homogeneous quality, based on the latest determination of the ground-station antenna delays which account for the contribution of the on-board computer and of the ground station to the telemetry fly-time from the spacecraft to the Earth.

The impact of the bulk regeneration for the XMM-Newton users is expected to be negligible. The readjustments in the time correlation elements are within the typical systematic uncertainties of the XMM-Newton absolute timing calibration (100 microseconds). The whole regeneration exercise is expected to be finished by the end of October 2009.

Conference "The Energetic Cosmos: from Suzaku to ASTRO-H":
registration and abstract submission open

As announced in issue #86 of the XMM-Newton Newsletter, the conference "The energetic cosmos: from Suzaku to ASTRO-H" will be held from 29th June to 2nd July 2009 in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan. Immediately following this conference, a one-day meeting on the future mission IXO (International X-ray Observatory) will be held separately.

Registration and abstract submission for this conference is now possible.

Deadline for abstract submission is March 16, 2009.
Deadline for registration is April 13, 2009.

See the conference website for more information:

     http://www-utheal.phys.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SuzakuConference2009


Yours sincerely,
XMM-Newton SOC