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

XMM-Newton recovers autonomously after reaction wheel bit flip 07-August-2026
“I got this” – XMM-Newton recovers autonomously and avoids lengthy recovery
A single particle from space, likely a cosmic ray or solar wind particle, put XMM-Newton's resilience to the test on 1 August 2026 at 09:21, triggering a "bit flip" that caused reaction wheel number 4 to power off unexpectedly.
Within seconds of the wheel powering off, XMM-Newton recovered autonomously without consuming any fuel thanks to a new onboard software capability introduced in February 2025.
Read the full story here in our XMM-Newton SOC web portal.

First Edition of the GOF-SOC Bulletin 31-July-2026
First edition of the GOF-SOC Bulletin
Welcome to the first joint XMM-Newton General Observer Facility (GOF) and Science Operations Centre (SOC) bulletin. This initiative is designed to keep you regularly informed on observing proposals, software, and science updates. Bulletins will be released on a quarterly basis, so stay on the lookout for future releases.
Highlights from this issue include: the AO-26 Call for Proposals, the release of the 5XMM-DR15 catalogue, The X-ray Universe 2026 conference, the extension of mission operations, recent science successes, new NASA disclosure form requirements, and an opportunity to share your science with us.
Read the full bulletin (PDF) on the HEASARC web portal.

The X-ray Universe 2026 conference in Elche, Spain 30-July-2026
The X-ray Universe 2026 conference held in Elche, Spain
The X-ray Universe 2026 conference, the 7th in the series, organized by the XMM-Newton Project, was successful and took place on 8–11 June in Elche, Spain. In total 286 people registered, of which 16 were online registrations. Distribution among countries: 189 from ESA Member States (largest Italy, Germany), 39 from the US and 58 elsewhere. This conference encompassed a broad range of high-energy astrophysics topics, from Solar system studies to cosmology, and provided a showcase for results and discoveries from XMM-Newton as well as from the variety of other current missions. The scientific potential of future mission projects and the evolution of the scientific analysis landscape were further topics. The conference featured 14 invited, 13 solicited and 4 plenary talks (all during the morning Plenary Session), 197 contributed talks spread over 4 Parallel Sessions per day, and 72 poster presentations.
Conference group photo: full resolution image.
Further details on the The X-ray Universe 2026 conference web page.

astronomers-recurring-black-hole-eruption 23-July-2026
Astronomers catch a recurring black hole eruption in real time
Astronomers have witnessed the third major outburst from the supermassive black hole in IC 3599, providing a rare opportunity to study a recurring extreme accretion event. Observations from XMM-Newton, together with multiwavelength data, have helped track the evolution of the eruption and offer new insights into the physics of black hole accretion and variability.
Further details on Phys.org web portal.

Sign up for the XMM-Newton GOF-SOC Bulletin 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.

XMM-Newton and Chandra revise distance to outer spiral arms 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.

News Archive