XMM-Newton Latest News

 

For older news stories regarding XMM-Newton please visit the News Archive

 

XMM-Newton_s_20th_anniversary_in_space_pillars 10-Dec-2019
XMM-Newton’s 20th anniversary in space
On 10 December, ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray space observatory is celebrating its 20th launch anniversary. In those two decades, the observatory has supplied a constant stream of outstanding science. One area that the mission has excelled in is the science of black holes, having had a profound effect on our understanding of these cosmic enigmas.
Further details on ESAS's Science &Exploration portal.

mysteriously in sync pulsar challenges existing theories 13-Sep-2019
mysteriously in sync pulsar challenges existing theories
For the first time, astronomers have detected synchronised pulses of optical and X-ray radiation from a mysterious pulsar some 4500 light years away. The observations indicate that a new physical mechanism might be needed to explain the behaviour of fast-spinning sources like this one, known as transitional millisecond pulsars.
Further details on ESAS's Science & Technology portal.

Unexpected periodic flares may shed light on black hole accretion 12-Sep-2019
unexpected periodic flares may shed light on black hole accretion
ESA’s X-ray space telescope XMM-Newton has detected never-before-seen periodic flares of X-ray radiation coming from a distant galaxy that could help explain some enigmatic behaviours of active black holes.
Further details on ESA's Space Science portal.

XMM-Newton Anniversary Products 28-Aug-2019
XMM-Newton Anniversary Products
Explore the scientific impact of ESA's (the European Space Agency's) XMM-Newton observatory for its 20th anniversary in space, as told by Ph.D. scientists whose work the mission enabled. XMM-Newton’s telescopes and its ability to make long uninterrupted exposures provide highly sensitive observations of many targets, including active galaxies powered by supermassive black holes, star formation in galaxies, and X-ray flares from stars in our own Milky Way galaxy.
Further details on NASA's pages.

Cluster and XMM-Newton pave the way for smile 27-Aug-2019
Cluster and XMM-Newton pave the way for smile
The Solar wind-Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission is still four years away from launch, but scientists are already using existing ESA satellites, such as the XMM-Newton X-ray observatory and the Cluster mission studying Earth's magnetosphere, to pave the way for this pioneering venture.
Further details on ESAS's Science & Technology portal.

X-raying a galaxy’s stellar remnants 26-Aug-2019
X-raying a galaxy’s stellar remnants
This colourful spread of light specks is in fact a record of extremely powerful phenomena taking place in a galaxy known as Messier 83, or M83. Located some 15 million light-years away, M83 is a barred spiral galaxy, not dissimilar in shape from our own Milky Way, and currently undergoing a spur of star formation, with a handful of new stars being born every year.
Further details on ESAS's Science & Exploration portal.

RPS 20-Aug-2019
XMM-Newton 19th Announcement of Opportunity (AO-19)
The XMM-Newton Nineteenth Announcement of Opportunity is now open and observing proposals may be submitted.
The deadline is 11 October 2019, 12:00 UT
Further details here on our XMM-Newton SOC website.

How black holes shape galaxies 24-Jul-2019
How black holes shape galaxies
Data from ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory has revealed how supermassive black holes shape their host galaxies with powerful winds that sweep away interstellar matter.
Further details on ESAS's Science & Technology portal.

Happy birthday Chandra 23-Jul-2019:
Happy birthday Chandra
Congratulations to colleagues and partners from the Chandra X-ray Observatory for their 20 years and counting of excellence science. Best wishes for many more years to come.
Further details in Chandra X-ray Observatory web pages.

X-RAY SERENDIPITY 08-Jul-2019:
X-RAY SERENDIPITY
The purple lines and blotches scattered across this image show something incredible: all of the X-ray sources that were serendipitously detected - that is, not intentionally targeted - by ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray space observatory from 2000 to 2017.
Further details on ESAS's Space in Images portal.

Galaxy Clusters 24-Jun-2019:
X-rays reveal how cosmic giants meet
Scientists have uncovered an extremely powerful shock wave in a distant part of the Universe where two massive galaxy clusters appear to come into first contact ahead of merging. The study is based on data from several astronomical facilities, including ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray space observatory.
Further details on ESAS's Science & Technology portal.

Teacup Quasar 06-May-2019:
Storm in the Teacup quasar
This image shows a quasar nicknamed the Teacup due to its shape. The Teacup is 1.1 billion light years away and was thought to be a dying quasar until recent X-ray observations with ESA's XMM-Newton telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory shed new light on it.
Further details on ESAS's Space in Images portal.

Stargazing Technology to spot cancer 08-Apr-2019:
Stargazing technology used to spot cancer
Cancer could be detected in patients far earlier by using the same technology used to observe stars millions of miles away, such as ion thrusters and X-ray optics similar to those deployed in ESA's XMM-Newton spacecraft.
Further details on GOV.UK pages.

Galactic chimneys and bubbles 20-Mar-2019:
Giant 'chimneys' vent X-rays from Milky Way's core
By surveying the centre of our Galaxy, ESA's XMM-Newton has discovered two colossal 'chimneys' funneling material from the vicinity of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole into two huge cosmic bubbles.
Further details on ESA's Space Science portal.

Quasar 18-Mar-2019:
'Teacup' Quasar Causes Galactic Storms
SDSS J143029.88+133912.0, nicknamed the 'Teacup' because of its shape, is a quasar powered by a supermassive black hole. New data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA's XMM-Newton mission provide detailed information about the history of the eruptions of energy and particles produced by the black hole.
Further details on Sci-News pages.

NGC 300 25-Feb-2019:
Past and future generations of stars in NGC 300
This swirling palette of colours portrays the life cycle of stars in a spiral galaxy known as NGC 300. The different colours are derived from optical observations performed by MPG/ESO's Wide Field Imager (WFI) telescope at La Silla, Chile; infrared observations made with NASA's Spitzer space telescope; and data collected in X-rays by ESA's XMM-Newton space observatory.
Further details on ESA's Space in Images portal.

Measuring the Expansion of the Universe 28-Jan-2019:
Active galaxies point to new physics of cosmic expansion
Investigating the history of our cosmos with a large sample of distant ‘active’ galaxies observed by ESA’s XMM-Newton, a team of astronomers found there might be more to the early expansion of the Universe than predicted by the standard model of cosmology.
Further details on ESA's Space Science pages, The New York Times and The Great Courses Plus

Supernova 10-Jan-2019:
Team of telescopes finds X-ray engine inside mysterious supernova
ESA’s high-energy space telescopes Integral and XMM-Newton have helped to find a source of powerful X-rays at the centre of an unprecedentedly bright and rapidly evolving stellar explosion that suddenly appeared in the sky earlier this year.
Further details on ESA's Space Science portal.

Black hole devours a star 09-Jan-2019:
XMM-Newton captures final cries of star shredded by black hole
Astronomers using ESA's XMM-Newton space observatory have studied a black hole devouring a star and discovered an exceptionally bright and stable signal that allowed them to determine the black hole's spin rate.
Further details on ESA's Space Science portal.