XMM-Newton SOC Home Page - XMM-Newton

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

Spinning pulsar stars may contain ultra-dense matter that's not found anywhere else in the Universe 24-Jun-2024
Astronomers examined pulsar PSR J0205+6449 at the supernova remnant's centre, and other pulsars like it, using the Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton telescope.
Further details on BBC Sky at night Magazine web portal.

Too young to be so cool: lessons from three neutron stars 21-Jun-2024
ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s Chandra spacecraft have detected three young neutron stars that are unusually cold for their age. By comparing their properties to different neutron star models, scientists conclude that the oddballs’ low temperatures disqualify around 75% of known models. This is a big step towards uncovering the one neutron star ‘equation of state’ that rules them all, with important implications for the fundamental laws of the Universe.
Further details on ESA web portal.

How do supermassive black holes get super massive? 12-Jun-2024
Combined X-ray surveys and supercomputer simulations track 12 billion years of cosmic black-hole growth[...]. The research team used complementary data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, the European Space Agency’s X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission-Newton (XMM-Newton), and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics’ eROSITA telescope.
Further details on Eberly College of Science web portal.

Study investigates a massive 'spider' pulsar 31-May-2024
Recently, Stanford University's Andrew Sullivan and Roger Romani employed ESA's XMM-Newton spacecraft to take a closer look at J2215. Based on the XMM-Newton data, they produced orbital light curves of J2215 and used them to model the system properties.
Further details on Phys.org web portal.

First analysis of stellar winds from three sun-like stars 13-May-2024
An international research team, including a CNRS researcher (see box), has for the first time detected X-ray emissions from the astrospheres of three solar-type stars, thus providing new constraints on the mass loss rates of these stars. This study, based on observations with the XMM-Newton space telescope, is published in Nature Astronomy in April 2024.
Further details on Techno-Science.net web portal.

Cosmic dance of the ‘Space Clover’ 3-May-2024
Leveraging the advanced capabilities of the XMM-Newton telescope and the complementary multi-wavelength observations, the team unveiled the origin of the ORC as a cosmic dance of two galaxy groups.
Further details on Max Planck Institute web portal.