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XMM-Newton Guest Observer Facility

XMM-Newton is (over) 20 years old!

In October 2019, we celebrated the milestone anniversary of XMM-Newton (XMM), which was launched 1999 December 10 from Kourou, French Guiana. The agenda and presentations have been posted online. Worldwide interest in the mission remains high, while continued improvements in observation flexibility, software, and calibration provide steady support for guest observers:

  • XMM data have been used in over 5,900 refereed papers.
  • Recent science highlights include: studies of the missing baryons in the Universe, the X-ray chimney connecting the galactic center to the Fermi bubbles, detecting relativistic reverberation and QPOs in tidal disruption events, and discovering a new ULX pulsar class.
  • XMM's source catalogs are growing in value as deeper, wide-field multiwavelength surveys become available.
  • Large serendipitous and slew catalogs are increasingly robust.
  • More than 5,000 scientists have used XMM.
  • XMM has detected over a half million X-ray sources.

Anniversary Video: Scientists who received their PhDs using XMM-Newton discuss X-ray astronomy, their inspiration, and ways that XMM-Newton has impacted their careers.

Latest News - Rev. 3731
  • XMM-Newton Serendipitous Source Catalogue: 5XMM-DR15 Released (9 Jun 2026)
    14th release of the 4XMM Serendipitous Source Catalogue
  • First Announcement of The X-ray Universe 2026 Conference (02 Sep 2025)
    The 7th X-ray Universe Symposium will be held in Elche, Spain, from 8-11 June 2026, organized by the XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre. The conference will cover a broad range of high energy astrophysics topics, highlight results from XMM-Newton and other missions, and discuss future projects and analysis methods.
  • XMM-Newton SAS v22.1.0 Released (07 Mar 2025)
    Version 22.1 PATCH of the Science Analysis System (SAS) released
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    If you have any questions concerning XMM-Newton send email to xmmhelp@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov