Concepedia

XMM-Newton observatory

F. Jansen, D. Lumb, B. Altieri, J. Clavel, M. Ehle, C. Erd, C. Gabriel, M. Guainazzi, P. Gondoin, R. Much,

Astronomy and Astrophysics · 2001 · 2.3K citations · 9 references

Open access

TL;DR

XMM‑Newton, ESA’s largest Horizon 2000 satellite, offers an unprecedentedly large effective area that has enabled a wealth of scientific results, while its in‑orbit performance, preliminary calibrations, and data‑flow pipeline support routine scientific operations. The paper summarizes the principal characteristics of XMM‑Newton that are relevant to its scientific operations. The authors list the public observations from XMM‑Newton’s calibration and performance verification phase, which underpin most papers in this issue. The issue’s scientific results are enabled by the Observatory’s unprecedentedly large effective area of its three mirror modules.

Abstract

The XMM-Newton Observatory is a cornerstone mission of the European Space Agency's Horizon 2000 programme, and is the largest scientific satellite it has launched to date. This paper summarises the principal characteristics of the Observatory which are pertinent to scientific operations. The scientific results appearing in this issue have been enabled by the unprecedentedly large effective area of the three mirror modules, which are briefly described. The in-orbit performance and preliminary calibrations of the observatory are briefly summarised. The observations from the XMM-Newton calibration and performance verification phase, which are public and from which most papers in this issue have been derived, are listed. The flow of data from the spacecraft, through the ground segment, to the production of preliminary science products supplied to users is also discussed.