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GSFC XMM-Newton GOF Status Report #029: XMM-NEWTON NEWS #3



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_/                 XMM-NEWTON NEWS #3   ---    13-Mar-2001                  _/
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                ESA, XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre at                  
            Villafranca del Castillo, Satellite Tracking Station
                P.O. Box - Apdo. 50727, 28080 Madrid, Spain        
	               
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SOC Home Page:           http://xmm.vilspa.esa.es/                               
Helpdesk web interface:  http://xmm.vilspa.esa.es/xmmhelp                       
Helpdesk email address:  xmmhelp@xmm.vilspa.esa.es 
News Mailing List:       http://xmm.vilspa.esa.es/mailman/listinfo/xmm-news 
       
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Contents:  
           - Status and Scheduling of XMM-Newton Observations
	   - Naming conventions for sources found by individual researchers
	 
Dear Colleagues,

Status and Scheduling of XMM-Newton Observations
================================================

Over the last half year the XMM-Newton Science Operation Centre (SOC) has 
published a number of pages on the Worldwide Web in order to provide 
information on the status and scheduling of XMM-Newton proposals. 

The XMM-Newton users community should check these pages if they wish to find 
out more about the advanced planning of revolutions. It is also possible to 
inquire about already performed observations. In addition, the SOC is 
maintaining a list of activities performed during recent XMM-Newton 
revolutions.


- Advanced Planning:

  The XMM-Newton Advanced Plan covers a period of three months, split in 
  units of four revolutions (i.e. 8 days). It is built upon the most 
  "critical target(s)" in each revolution. Most of the observations included 
  in the plan therefore fall into one of the following classes: 

  * highly constrained targets, with short visibility window 
  * observations coordinated with other observatories 
  * fixed time observations 
  
  The fraction of guaranteed time versus guest observer time is based on the 
  principle agreement with the ESA Science Programme Committee (SPC) at the 
  time of approval of the XMM-Newton mission (1988). The actual implemented 
  profile is somewhat different because of initial observing efficiency being 
  on the low side. The final profile as now agreed and implemented was 
  endorsed by ESA's director of science at a review in VILSPA on 13-Feb-2001.

  The XMM-Newton Advanced Plan for the next three months is available at

  http://xmm.vilspa.esa.es/news/advance_plan1.html
  
  Principal investigators of accepted proposals are invited to periodically 
  check the list. They should immediately contact the SOC 
  (email: xmmpi@xmm.vilspa.esa.es) in case of problems.
  
  Currently more than 90% of the observations are executed within four 
  revolutions from what is originally specified in the advanced plan.
  

- Scheduled Observations:

  The SOC has prepared an XMM-Newton Observation Search Page which allows
  the users to perform a search for scheduled observations. An observation 
  enters this search page immediately after it has been scheduled, normally 
  2 - 3 weeks in advance of execution.
  
  Nevertheless, no guarantee can be given that a listed observation is 
  actually performed. It can happen that a revolution needs to be re-scheduled 
  on short notice, e.g. to perform a target of opportunity observation. 
  Similarly, severe solar storms and support to other spacecraft or ground 
  problems may prevent the execution of a scheduled observation.
  
  The search can be based on a proposal/observation ID or on a revolution 
  number. Additional and more sophisticated search tools as well as detailed 
  info on the success of a scheduled observation will be offered by future 
  updates of this page.
  
  The Observation Search Page (in its prototype version) is available at
  
  http://xmm.vilspa.esa.es/cgi-bin/obs_search/selectobs 
  
  Information about the scheduling of a specific proposal will be sent to the 
  Principal Investigator of an XMM-Newton proposal via an automatic email 
  notification system from mid March, 2001 onwards.
  
- Latest Spacecraft News:

  The SOC is also maintaining a list of main spacecraft activities as a 
  function of time. This list gives general information about the executed 
  observations (e.g. observation type, coordination with other instruments). 
  It also informs about solar flares, eclipses and other events affecting 
  the observations. 
  
  The XMM Spacecraft's Status list is available at
  
  http://xmm.vilspa.esa.es/latest_news.html
  

Naming conventions for sources found by individual researchers
==============================================================
 
The XMM-Newton Observatory will produce serendipitous catalogues of typically 
10's of X-ray sources and additional Optical/UV targets for each and every 
observation. While the eventual comprehensive catalogues will be produced by
pipeline processing of data by the XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre, the 
following designation for informal identification in individual fields is 
recommended:

If you are referring to detected sources in XMM-Newton fields you should 
follow the naming convention XMMUJ HHMMSS.s+/-DDMMSS

e.g. source position: RA 03 10 15.1, Dec -76 51 31.2 (J2000)
     recommended acronym: XMMUJ 031015.1-765131
	     
     source position: RA 17 23 48.7, Dec +82 17 33.8 (J2000)  
     recommended acronym: XMMUJ 172348.7+821733
     
  

With best regards,

The XMM-Newton User Support Group


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