Welcome to the XMM-Newton HelpDesk
Submitting a HelpDesk request
Before submitting a new request to the XMM-Newton HelpDesk users are strongly recommended to check if the information needed is already included in one of the answered requests.
Previous HelpDesk questions can be searched and new requests submitted via the:
| HelpDesk web interface |
We advise the user to make the (short) question the subject of the request. It is important to send a separate request for each question. The message will receive a unique ID, by which it can be identified in the database.
The questions, and later their answers, will be visible to the public. To avoid this, the requests have to be marked as PRIVATE.
The XMM-Newton HelpDesk is staffed Mon-Fri, 08:00-17:00 GMT, except on public holidays. Users should get a response within at most two working days.
Please note that your feedback is extremely useful for us to improve the service provided to the Scientific Community. We invite you to visit the following web address and send us your comments: http://xmm2.esac.esa.int/cgi-bin/user_feedback/ufeedback?service=helpdesk
The HelpDesk web interface
All messages sent to the HelpDesk and the relevant answers are kept stored in separate directories, according to their main topic. All messages or messages in individual directories can be searched for a "Regular expression" or by its message ID. The messages marked as PRIVATE will not appear here. The links in the Table below allow the direct access to the directories containing messages about:
| Instrument performances and calibrations | EPIC-MOS, EPIC-pn, RGS, OM |
| Instrument sensitivity and background | Backgrounds |
| Multi-instrument calibration issues | Calibration |
| Documentation | Docs |
| Announcement of Opportunity (AO) related general questions | AO15, AO16, AO17 |
| Data related problems | Data |
| Data analysis and reduction software | SASv15.0, SASv15.0_Installation, SASv16.0, SASv16.0_Installation, SASv16.1, SASv16.1_Installation, esas, SciSim, Simulators_other (e.g.: PIMMS), etc. |
| Target visibility and observing efficiency | Visibility |
| XMM-Newton SOC organized Conferences and Workshops | Conference |
| XMM-Newton Image Gallery | Gallery |
| XMM-Newton Science Archive | XSA |
| ESAC SAS Workshops | SAS_WS |
| Publications, remarkable results for ESA news | Publications |
| Others, Suggestions | Misc, Suggestions |
| Questions not yet fully answered | Incoming, Pending |
Most of the other directories are intended for the management of the XMM-Newton HelpDesk.
Out of date messages are kept off-line.
Help with SAS: If you encounter problems in analyzing XMM-Newton data with the SAS software please try to give as much information as needed to reproduce your problem, including the following details:
- Output of the sasversion command,
- Observation identifier,
- Information about the CCF in use.
XMM-NEWS mailing list: Astronomers who wish to be kept up-to-date with the most important XMM-Newton related news can suscribe to the XMM-Newton Newsletter at http://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/newsletter.