AO-24 Information - XMM-Newton

XMM-Newton Twenty-fourth Announcement of Opportunity (AO-24)

The Announcement of Opportunity is closed now

Effective 20 August 2024, XMM-Newton observing proposals were solicited in response to the Twenty-fourth Announcement of Opportunity, AO-24.

A letter from ESA's Director of Science, inviting you to participate in the Twenty-fourth Call for Proposals, is available in electronic form.

The deadline for XMM-Newton AO-24 proposal submission was Friday 11 October 2024, 12:00 UT.

Important changes for AO-24 relative to earlier Calls

(see the Policies and Procedures Document)

Proposal Submission Documentation

The following AO-24 documentation is available:

On-line documentation contains updated links to references in the text.

The XMM-Newton SOC highly recommends the use of the Scientific Justification LaTeX Template (see further instructions at the end of this page).

AO-24 Timetable

Key milestones for AO-24 are

Approved AO-24 observations are planned to be performed during the period May 2025 to April 2026 (XMM-Newton revolutions 4651-4833).

Proposal Submission Procedure and Tools

XMM-Newton Proposals were submitted using the XMM-Newton Interface for Proposal Submission software:

The following tools are available to assist AO-24 proposers:

• Visibility Checker Tool
  Check if a target is visible with XMM-Newton


• Sky Visibility Map
  Check visibility constraints for any position on the sky during this AO


• Observation Lokator
  Check if a target has been observed or is awaiting observation by XMM-Newton


• Pending Anticipated ToOs
  Check if a target has already been accepted as anticipated ToO, and find the validity period of the corresponding proposal


• EPIC Exposure Map Simulator
  For XMM-Newton Mosaic Mode


• xmm_footprint.tpl (for ds9), xmm_footprint.xml (for Aladin)
  EPIC-pn footprint templates
  These files can be downloaded and be used as templates for ds9 and Aladin viewers. They should be loaded as Region-Template-Load (in ds9) and FOV (in Aladin).
  The Position Angles with which a given object can be observed with XMM-Newton can be obtained with the Visibility Checker Tool.
  The EPIC-pn footprint template can also be visualized in ESASky , using the Observation Planning tool. The location and orientation of the aperture can be modified as needed, and the final position can be exported to get the pointing coordinates and position angle. More details can be fond at the following link.

Other Useful Links for Proposers

The following links are available to assist AO-24 proposers:

• Observation and Data Processing Status


• XMM-Newton Science Archive


• Calibration Portal, including links to 'canned' response matrices for all XMM-Newton instruments


• The Behaviour of the XMM-Newton Background


• For Planning purposes:
  • Visibility of AO-23 requested Large Programmes (LPs)
    The plot shows the over-subscription of LPs versus visibility during a year. Note that some periods are significantly more over-subscribed than others, which should be avoided. This can be achieved, for example, if several targets are available to reach a scientific goal of a proposal, i.e. selecting a target with good visibility in periods of low over-subscription.
  
  
  • Evolution of the XMM-Newton Sky Visibility (for details please refer to Section 4.2.3 of the XMM-Newton Users Handbook).


• Remote Proposal Submission, Phase I
  • XIPS Help Page

The following external links may also be helpful:

• PIMMS Mission Count Rate Simulator
• Catalogues and astronomical archives of HEASARC
• Chandra Target Information Search

Using the LaTeX Template File

Use of the provided LaTeX template to write the scientific justification is highly recommended.

Proposal justifications MUST be submitted as one file in Portable Document Format (PDF). A PDF file can be generated from the LaTeX template in one of two ways:

1. Use a LaTeX installation which allows you to create PDF files directly from the .tex file (e.g. pdflatex). Some installations of pdflatex do not allow you to include postscript figures. In this case you might use method 2.


2. Use ps2pdf (preferably version 1.4) to convert the postscript file to PDF:
   > latex file.tex
   > dvips -Ppdf -G0 -o file.ps file.dvi
   > ps2pdf14 file.ps file.pdf

Please take note of the following points regarding the use of the LaTeX template provided:

• Proposers must make sure that generated pdf output from the template is complete both when displayed with a viewer (acroread) and when printed on paper. LaTeX installations vary greatly and therefore it might not be possible to get all proposals to come out correctly with a single text page layout. In some cases the user will have to adjust the \topmargin=-7mm command in the template to vertically centre the text.


• The page limit of 4 pages (5 pages for "Large Programmes", 2 pages for "Fulfil Programmes") includes all materials, i.e. science justification and Sections 4 and 5 (previous work and publications).


• Colour images are allowed and proposals are distributed to OTAC in electronic form. However, the scientific content of images should still remain clear when displayed or printed in black and white.


• The proposal justification can be submitted in single or in two-column format. Instructions on how to switch between these two layouts are given in the LaTeX template.


• The font size (11pt) is mandatory.

All questions regarding XMM-Newton proposal submission should be directed to the XMM-Newton HelpDesk.