XMM-Newton-NEWS


XMM-Newton-NEWS  #127,    23-Aug-2011

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 Announcement of Opportunity (AO-11)

Letter of Invitation by the ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration

Dear Colleague,

I am very pleased to invite you to respond to the eleventh "Announcement of Opportunity" to submit proposals for observations to be performed with the XMM-Newton observatory.

XMM-Newton is the second cornerstone of ESA's Horizon 2000 Science Programme. It was launched by an Ariane 5 launcher and offers astronomers a unique opportunity to perform high throughput non-dispersive spectroscopic imaging in the energy range from 0.2 keV to 12 keV (European Photon Imaging Camera) and medium resolution dispersive spectroscopy (Reflection Grating Spectrometer) in the energy range from 0.4 keV to 2.2 keV. In addition it provides simultaneous optical/UV observations with a co-aligned telescope (Optical Monitor).

This Announcement solicits proposals to be carried out in the period from May 2012 to April 2013. Proposers from all over the world are welcome to participate. All proposals will be subject to independent peer review by the XMM-Newton Observing Time Allocation Committee. Potential proposers are expected to prepare and submit proposals in electronic form, by the deadline given below, using the XMM-Newton Remote Proposal Submission software.

The documentation for this Announcement is available via the Internet at:

     https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/ao11

I would appreciate it if you would distribute the attached information at your home institute.

The key milestones for this Announcement are:

Announcement of Opportunity23 August 2011
Due date for Proposals07 October 2011 (12:00 UT)
Final OTAC approved program  late December 2011

I invite you to submit your proposals and wish you success in using the XMM-Newton observatory.


Yours sincerely,

Prof. Alvaro Gimenez Canete
Director of Science and Robotic Exploration

Time line for Phase II proposal submission

After the cycle of proposal submission and selection, the observation details for successful proposals must be entered into the observatory system. This is done during "Phase II" proposal submission. Please find below for your information the anticipated time line for that eventual Phase II:

Start of phase II proposal submission10 January 2012
Closure of phase II proposal submission  03 February 2012



Yours sincerely,
XMM-Newton SOC