The Data

One of the first steps that should be taken when examining your data is to check to see what you actually have. XMM-Newton observations can be broken into several exposures which are each assigned separate observation numbers. These separate exposures can be radically different in length and can also have the different instruments in different modes. For example, in one case the full observation was 60 ks with EPIC and RGS active but there was one delivered exposure which was $\sim3$ ks and had only RGS active. (This can happen because the RGS can operate farther into regions of higher radiation than the EPIC detector. The additional observation time can be considered an additional exposure with only the RGS active.) Two files are useful and should be downloaded to the user's machine for this examination. First, the primary HTML page is INDEX.HTM which is included in the Pipeline Products. This page lists basic information for the observation plus the operational modes, filters, and exposure start and stop times for the individual instruments. It also has links to various summary pages, including those for the instruments. (In the case above, the EPIC summary page simply stated that ``EPIC exposures processed by PPS None.'') Specifically, LOOK at the P*SUMMAR0000.HTM files in the pipeline products (easily available through the links). Second, to quickly access images from the various instruments examine the PPSGRA Pipeline Products page (§ 5.3.3).