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

08-July-2026
Sign up for the GOF-SOC Bulletin
The new XMM-Newton GOF-SOC Bulletin is launching at the end of July. Sign up through the HEASARC XMM-Newton page to have it delivered to your inbox, and select the XMMNEWS mailing list when subscribing.
Further details on HEASARC web portal.

01-July-2026
XMM-Newton helps revise distance to outer spiral arms
XMM-Newton and NASA's Chandra have measured dust-scattered X-ray echoes from three gamma-ray bursts—GRB 221009A, 160623A and 031203—ringing through the Milky Way's outer spiral arms. By tracking how these echoes expanded over time, Beatrice Vaia and colleagues directly pinned the distance to the scattering dust, confirming the Perseus arm and finding the Outer Scutum-Centaurus Arm and Outer Arm up to 10% farther out than previous models suggested. The X-ray technique complements Gaia by probing accurately to longer distances in regions where stellar parallax is less precise.
Further details on ESA.int web portal.

26-June-2026
Ultraluminous X-ray source in Whale galaxy investigated for spectral and timing variability
Using archival Chandra, XMM-Newton and Swift/XRT data, astronomers led by Sinan Allak have carried out the first dedicated spectral and timing study of the transient ultraluminous X-ray source X-4 in NGC 4631, the Whale galaxy. Its 0.3–10 keV luminosity varies by more than two orders of magnitude over the full baseline, with kilosecond-scale peaks suggesting a radiatively driven, optically thick wind. The spectral evolution fits super-Eddington accretion rather than a standard thin disk, pointing to a stellar-mass neutron star or black hole accretor.
Further details on Phys.org web portal.

16-June-2026
Powerful UFO spotted blasting from a distant black hole
Using XMM-Newton and NuSTAR, astronomers have detected one of the most powerful ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) ever seen from a distant supermassive black hole, in the hyper-luminous quasar WISSH13 at cosmic noon. X-ray spectra reveal two wind components moving at roughly 10% and 30% of the speed of light—a slower long-lived sheath and a faster spine seen only in recent data—consistent with a layered outflow structure. Together they eject about 21 and 24 solar masses of material per year, making this the highest-redshift UFO detected in a non-lensed quasar to date.
Further details on Phys.org web portal.

11-June-2026
ESA science missions get green light for new discoveries
At its meeting in Tenerife on 10–11 June, ESA's Science Programme Committee endorsed extensions for 13 missions whose current science phases were due to end before the close of 2026, including XMM-Newton. The decision secures continued operations for the observatory into its third decade, alongside BepiColombo, Cheops, Einstein Probe, Mars Express, Solar Orbiter, XRISM and others, reflecting their ongoing ability to deliver novel science for European and international communities.
Further details on ESA.int web portal.

02-June-2026
Dormant black hole revives in under three years, brightening 10-fold in nearby galaxy
Astronomers monitoring the Seyfert galaxy ESO 511-G030 for six years have watched its ~17-million-solar-mass black hole wake from a depleted accretion state, brightening by a factor of 10 in ultraviolet and X-rays. XMM-Newton saw the system bright in 2007 and roughly 10 times fainter in 2019; Swift follow-up from 2019 to 2025 shows the disk reviving from around 2021, with most recovery by 2023 while X-rays lagged UV before catching up in 2022–2023. After subtracting host-galaxy light, the accretion disk brightened by roughly 20–30, supporting accretion-state transitions akin to stellar-mass black holes near a universal Eddington threshold.
Further details on Phys.org web portal.

News Archive