X-ray Astronomy from the Solar System to the High Redshift Universe

✍ Scribed by Stefanie Komossa; Vadim Burwitz; Norbert Schartel; Günther Hasinger

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 127 KB
• Volume: 324
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-6337
• DOI: 10.1002/asna.200385006

✦ Synopsis

The X-ray Multi-mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) is the second cornerstone of the European Space Agency's Horizon 2000 Science Programme, providing an observatory-class X-ray facility. The observatory provides simultaneous non-dispersive spectroscopic imaging (European Photon Imaging Camera; EPIC), medium resolution dispersive spectroscopy (Reflection Grating Spectrometer; RGS) and optical/UV imaging and timing from a coaligned telescope (Optical Monitor; OM). In combination the three cameras of EPIC offer a large effective area over the energy range from 150 eV to 15 keV, up to 2500 cm 2 at 1.5 keV and ∼1800 cm 2 at 5 keV. Each of the two modules of the RGS cover the energy range from 0.35 keV to 2.5 keV with an effective area of up to 60 cm 2 at 15 Å. Thus, XMM-Newton offers a unique opportunity for a wide variety of sensitive X-ray observations accompanied by simultaneous optical/UV measurements. The talk will give an overview of the status of the XMM-Newton mission. Based on this an outlook of activities planned for the near future will be provided. The Science Archive of XMM-Newton is available to the scientific community since April 2002. The talk intents to provide a first introduction: "How to work with the Science Archive of XMM-Newton".