XMM-Newton Orbit and Constraints Details

 

XMM-Newton Orbit details

The orbital parameters for XMM-Newton are given in the following table; below elements correspond to the following epoch: 2023-08-11T07:43:25Z UT (JD: 2460167.821817).
This epoch corresponds to the Apogee Passage for revolution 4335 (rev: 4335.5).

Parameter Value
Semi-major Axis (km) 66927.760
Inclination 68.850°
Eccentricity 0.546236
Argument of Perigee 81.50°
RA of Ascending Node 297.33°
Launch Date Dec 10 1999
Orbit length (hrs:mins:secs) 47:51:54
Number of Ground Stations 2 (Santiago and Kourou)
occasionally Yatharaga and Vilspa

 

For an updated set of orbital elements for XMM-Newton you can always refer to the Two-Line Elements web page for Scientific satellites.

XMM-Newton Viewing constraints

The constraints applied in the visibility analysis are given in the table below:
 

Parameter Value
Solar Avoidance Angle 70 - 110°
Earth Limb Avoidance Angle 42°
Moon Avoidance Angle 22°
Moon Avoidance Angle (during eclipses) 35°
Size of the visibility bins 2°x 2°
Minimum Altitude for Observation (km)
ranges between:		 40000 - 46000

 

Database of Observable Bins (DBOB)

In order to determine the visibility, the sky is divided into bins of approximately equal solid angle.
The visibility of each bin is then assessed against viewing constraints with respect to the Earth, Sun and Moon.
For a target to be considered as visible, the corresponding bin has to be fully visible, i.e.: all four corners of the bin should be constraint free.
The set of visible bins is known as the DataBase of Observable Bins - DBOB.
In this version (18.0) of the Visibility Checker the size of each bin is, approximately, 2°x 2°.

  All strips start at RA = 0°
  First strip (strip 0) is centered at Dec: 0° and covers from Dec: -01° to +01°
  All strips have a heigth of 2° (except the bins at the poles that cover from Dec: ±89° to ±90°).
  The number of bins per strip is:
    Strips 0 to ±2:    180 bins
    Strips ±3 to ±7:   175 bins
    Strips ±8 to ±12:  170 bins
    Strips ±13 to ±17: 155 bins
    Strips ±18 to ±22: 140 bins
    Strips ±23 to ±27: 115 bins
    Strips ±28 to ±32:  90 bins
    Strips ±33 to ±37:  60 bins
    Strips ±38 to ±42:  30 bins
    Strips ±43 to ±44:   5 bins
    Strips ±45:          1 bin