The X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton)
The European Space Agency's X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) was launched by Ariane 504 on December 10 1999. XMM-Newton is ESA's second cornerstone of the Horizon 2000 Science Programme. It carries high thoughput X-ray telescopes with an unprecedend 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.
Mission Characteristics
Lifetime :
December 1999 - (nominal 10 year mission)
Energy Range :
0.1-15 keV
Special Features :
Very large collecting area. Simulataneous X-ray & Optical observations.
Payload :
- Three co-aligned Wolter Type I grazing incidence gold-coated imaging
X-ray telescopes each with an effective area of ~ 1500
cm2 @ 1 keV
Spatial resolution 6" FWHM. There are three type of instruments :
- European Photon Imaging Camera
Metal-Oxide-Silicon (EPIC-MOS; 0.1-15 keV; 2 units)
The EPIC-MOS are mounted under two telescopes and are used for spectro-imaging. Each units consist of an array of 7 CCDs and each CCD is 600 X 600 pixels
FOV 33 ´ X 33 ´
spectral resolution (E/dE) ~ 20-50
Eff area 922 cm2 @ 1keV
- European Photon Imaging Camera-PN
(0.1-15 keV; 1 unit)
This is an array of 12 CCDs (64 X 200 pixels each) used for spectro-imaging
FOV 27.5 ´ X 27.5 ´
spectral resolution (E/dE) ~ 20-50
Eff area 1227 cm2 @ 1keV
- Reflection Grating Spectrometer
(RGS; 0.35-2.5 keV two units) + EPIC-MOS
The gratings, mounted under two telescopes, deflect about 50% of the X-ray light onto an array of 9 EPIC-MOS CCD detectors.
Line density ~645 lines mm-1 at the centre
Spectral resolution (E/dE) 200-800
Eff area 185 cm2 1 keV
FOV 5´
- European Photon Imaging Camera
- Optical Monitor (OM; 180-650 nm)
co-aligned 30 cm optical/UV telescope. FOV ~17´, ~1" spatial resolution.