XMM-Newton SOC Home Page - XMM-Newton
Welcome to the XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre
The European Space Agency's (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) was launched by an Ariane 504 on December 10th 1999. XMM-Newton is ESA's second cornerstone of the Horizon 2000 Science Programme. It carries 3 high throughput X-ray telescopes with an unprecedented effective area, and an optical monitor, the first flown on a X-ray observatory. The large collecting area and ability to make long uninterrupted exposures provide highly sensitive observations.
Since Earth's atmosphere blocks out all X-rays, only a telescope in space can detect and study celestial X-ray sources. The XMM-Newton mission is helping scientists to solve a number of cosmic mysteries, ranging from the enigmatic black holes to the origins of the Universe itself. Observing time on XMM-Newton is being made available to the scientific community, applying for observational periods on a competitive basis.
Read more about the spacecraft, mirrors and instruments and about the XMM-Newton SOC.
News and Highlights
14-Oct-2024
XMM-Newton Announcement of Opportunity (AO-24) Closed
The XMM-Newton Twenty-fourth Announcement of Opportunity (AO-24) closed on the 11th of October 2024.
In total, 462 valid proposals were received. This Announcement of Opportunity covers a period of one year, with 12 Ms of observing time available for distribution. A total of 86.3 Ms of science time were requested. The over-subscription factor is 7.2.
A total of 36 proposals were received for Large Programmes, and 13 for Fulfil Programmes. Anticipated Target of Opportunity observations were requested in 65 proposals.
For the joint programmes, 94 proposals were submitted: 42 request time for the XMM-NuSTAR programme, 24 for the XMM-HST programme, 11 for the XMM-SWIFT programme, 10 for the XMM-VLT programme, 9 for the XMM-Chandra programme, 6 for the XMM-JWST programme, 10 for the XMM-NRAO programme and 1 for the MAGIC programme.
SOC received proposals from 381 different principal investigators from 32 countries. Considering principal investigators and co-investigators, about 1600 individual scientists were involved in the response to the Twenty-fourth Announcement of Opportunity.
20-Aug-2024
XMM-Newton Announcement of Opportunity (AO-24)
Letter of Invitation by the ESA Director of Science
Dear Colleague,
I am pleased to invite you to respond to the 24th Announcement of Opportunity to submit proposals for observations to be performed with the XMM-Newton observatory.
This Announcement solicits proposals to be carried out between May 2025 and April 2026. Proposers from institutes located worldwide are welcome to participate. All proposals will be subject to peer review by the XMM-Newton Observing Time Allocation Committee.
The detailed schedule of milestones of the announcement, the required software tools and the documentation are available from
http://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/ao24
I would appreciate if you would distribute this invitation to interested colleagues. I wish you every success in using the XMM-Newton observatory.
Yours sincerely,
Prof. Carole Mundell
Director of Science
Key milestones for this announcement
| Announcement of Opportunity | 20 August 2024 |
| Due date for Proposals | 11 October 2024 (12:00 UT) |
| Final OTAC approved program | late December 2024 |
Timeline 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.
Find below for your information the anticipated timeline for that eventual Phase II:
| Start of Phase II proposal submission | 8 January 2025 |
| Closure of Phase II proposal submission | 31 January 2025 |
Further details on the XMM-Newton SOC web portal.