XMM-Newton Latest News

 

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SAS v22.0 31-Jan-2025
Version 22.0 of the Science Analysis System (SAS) released
The XMM-Newton SAS team is pleased to announce the release of a new version of the SAS : SAS v22.0.

Binaries for diverse flavours of Linux and Mac OS X are available at
     https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/sas-download

The main improvements of this release can be found in the Release Notes:
     https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/sas-release-notes-2200

This version of SAS is released in three 64-bit binary versions for Linux (Ubuntu 22.04LTS, Ubuntu 24.04LTS and Red HAT 8.10), and two for macOS (13.6.9, Ventura and 14.6.1, Sonoma). A version for Red HAT 9 is intended to be released shortly.

SAS analysis threads have been revised to ensure compatibility with the recently released SAS v22.0. They are available at
     https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/xmm-newton/sas-threads

Further details on our SAS web portal.

X-ray observations 21-Jan-2025
X-ray observations uncover merger process in a nearby low-mass galaxy cluster
Using NASA's Chandra and ESA's XMM-Newton spacecraft, an international team of astronomers have performed X-ray observations of a nearby low-mass galaxy cluster designated PSZ2 G181.06+48.47. The observational campaign, detailed in a paper published Jan. 13 on the pre-print server arXiv, uncovers essential information regarding the nature and properties of this cluster.[...] With a mass of about 420 trillion solar masses, PSZ2 G181.06+48.47 is a low-mass galaxy cluster at a redshift of 0.24. It has a radius of approximately 3.45 million light years.
Further details on Phys.org web portal.

XMM-Newton catches giant black hole’s X-ray oscillations 13-Jan-2025
Unlocking the secrets of the first Quasars: how they defy the laws of Physics to grow
The European Space Agency's XMM-Newton has detected rapidly fluctuating X-rays coming from the very edge of a supermassive black hole in the heart of a nearby galaxy. The results paint a fascinating picture that defies how we thought matter falls into such black holes, and points to a potential source of gravitational waves that ESA’s future mission, LISA, could see. XMM-Newton is showing us that black holes devour matter in more complex ways than astronomers first thought. Black holes are predictions of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. They are gravitational monsters that imprison any piece of matter or energy that crosses their ‘surface’, a region of spacetime known as the event horizon.
Further details on ESA.int web portal and Science.nasa.gov web portal.