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GSFC XMM-Newton GOF Status Report #138: AO-7 Release/Useful Information



NASA/GSFC XMM-Newton GOF
28 August 2007

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Contents:

1) AO-7 Call For Proposals
2) Local Bubble and Beyond II
3) Profit v2.0
4) U.S XMM-Newton Mirror Archive Update
5) 2XMM Serendipitous Source Catalogue Mirror
6) XMM-ESAS

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1) AO-7 Call For Proposals

The ESA XMM-Newton project has issued the AO-7 call for science proposals.  
Information on proposal submission can be found at
the SOC: (http://xmm.vilspa.esa.es/external/xmm_science/AO7/)
and at the GOF: 
(http://heasarcdev.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xmm/xmmhp_prop_tools.html)
Participation is open to US-based scientists and please see the attached 
"Dear Colleague" letter from NASA.

As a friendly reminder, XMM-Newton proposals are due 12:00:00 UT,
Friday, 05 October 2007.

This converts to:
22:00:00 Fri Oct 05 2007 Sydney
21:00:00 Fri Oct 05 2007 Osaka
15:00:00 Fri Oct 05 2007 Istanbul
14:00:00 Fri Oct 05 2007 Munich
13:00:00 Fri Oct 05 2007 Leicester
08:00:00 Fri Oct 05 2007 Boston
07:00:00 Fri Oct 05 2007 Chicago
06:00:00 Fri Oct 05 2007 Denver
05:00:00 Fri Oct 05 2007 San Diego
02:00:00 Fri Oct 05 2007 Honolulu

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2) Local Bubble and Beyond II

We are pleased to announce a meeting sponsored by the US XMM team:

"The Local Bubble and Beyond II"

to be held the week of 2008 April 21-24th in Philadelphia.   As the name 
suggests, this will be a successor to the "The Local Bubble and Beyond" 
(LB&B) meeting held in 1997 near Munich.  The substantial increase in 
observational data about the Local Bubble in all wavebands along with 
progress in theoretical models suggest that the time is right for another 
meeting focused on Local Bubble issues.

Topics that will be covered at the meeting include:
* Observations of the Local ISM from Radio to Gamma Rays
* ISM models, local & global
* Bubbles and Superbubbles
* Charge exchange in the lab, solar wind, and beyond
* Connecting the Local Bubble with:
  - the Heliosphere
  - the Sco-Cen Superbubble
  - the Galactic Halo
* Future Observations and Observatories
with a featured debate: The Local Bubble: Hot or Not?

More information can be found at http://lbb.gsfc.nasa.gov

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3) Profit v2.0

The US XMM GOF is happy to announce the release of

Profit v2.0  available at:
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/software/profit

Profit is GUI-based spectral browser, with v2.0 now available for linux, 
Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Solaris.

New features:

  * Includes default energy boundaries for most X-ray missions,
including the XMM RGS, Chandra LETG and HETG, and others. The user can 
still select observation-specific responses if available, but the default 
values are adequate for all data taken straight from the archives or 
processed in a standard fashion.

  * Menus are now "detachable," by selecting the "-----" item at the top of 
each menu.

  * Line fits are now more robust. Only the brightest 20-25 lines
in a spectrum will be fit, and the rest ignored. This intentional
limitation on the fitting dramatically reduces fit times and increases the 
chance that the fit will converge.

  * Error bars now shown for all data points

  * Line fit values are reported in units of "Total Counts",
rather than peak counts. This allows the reported values to be used 
directly when making line ratios, since there is no dependence on line 
width or position.

  * Clicking on the right mouse button allows horizontal "scrolling" of the 
plot.

  * Multiple data sets can be loaded and used simultaneously; all datasets 
that have been opened are available in the Spectrum menu.

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4) U.S XMM-Newton Mirror Archive Update

The U.S. GOF recommends that you retrieve any XMM-Newton Pipeline
Products (PPS) files via the XSA until Friday, August 31, 2007. We
have installed the reprocessed data, but are verifying the data
integrity until then. This doesn't effect ODF file downloads.

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5) 2XMM Serendipitous Source Catalogue Mirror

We are pleased to mirror the 2XMM catalogue in Browse. The direct link
to the mirror is at:

http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/db-perl/W3Browse/w3table.pl?tablehead=name%3Dxmmssc&Action=More+Options

The base location to access the catalogue or for questions regarding
it's contents please see:

http://xmmssc-www.star.le.ac.uk/Catalogue/2XMM/

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6) XMM-ESAS

The XMM-ESAS software package for the analysis of extended sources
is being updated both to expand functionality and to respond to changes 
required by SAS V7.1.

http://heasarcdev.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xmm/xmmhp_xmmesas.html

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Dear Colleague,

NASA is pleased to call to the attention of members of the U.S. 
scientific community the release by the European Space Agency (ESA) 
of the Announcement of Opportunity (AO), "XMM-Newton Call for 
Observing Proposals", soliciting Guest Observing proposals for the 
seventh cycle (AO-7) observing program for ESA's X-ray Multi-Mirror 
Mission (XMM-Newton).  The subject Announcement solicits proposals 
for observations to be performed during a 12-month period commencing 
in May 2008.  Due to the nature of the NASA-ESA bilateral agreement, 
proposals from scientists affiliated with U.S. institutions only are 
solicited by this Letter; others are advised to contact ESA directly. 
U.S. scientists may propose either as Principal Investigators or as 
Co-Investigators on proposals with non-U.S. PIs (foreign PI proposals). 
The AO may be accessed directly from ESA at the following address:

http://xmm.vilspa.esa.es/external/xmm_science/AO7/

The XMM-Newton Guest Observer Facility (GOF) at the Goddard Space 
Flight Center (GSFC) is the support center for XMM-Newton activities 
in the U.S.  Information of interest to U.S. observers, as well as 
general project information, can be found at the following address:

http://xmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/

A detailed description of the mission, including instrument 
capabilities and additional information pertaining to the proposal 
preparation and submission procedures, is also available via links 
from the XMM-Newton home page at that address.  (General questions 
concerning XMM-Newton and participation by U.S. investigators should be 
addressed to xmmhelp@bigbang.gsfc.nasa.gov.)  ESA will be responsible 
for conducting a peer review of all submitted proposals, including 
those from U.S. investigators, and determining the associated time 
allocation.  Current plans call for ESA to notify proposers and NASA 
of the results of the peer review in late December 2007/early January 
2008.

As for Cycles 1-6, NASA has allocated funding for a Guest Observer 
(GO) program to support the analysis, interpretation, and publication 
of data obtained by U.S. proposers who are granted Open Time observing 
on XMM-Newton through the ESA AO. The level of funding available for 
any approved program will depend on the total funding available, the 
size and complexity of the investigation, whether the proposed budget 
is for a PI or lead Co-I (for foreign PI proposals), on the 
ultimate number of U.S. investigations approved by ESA, and possibly
on other factors.  Note that higher priority is assigned to U.S. 
PI proposals; funding for Co-I participation in foreign-PI 
proposals is allocated at a reduced level (roughly one-half of the 
U.S. PI level for an equivalent proposal).  We anticipate that 
approximately $5.7 M will be available for support of U.S. Guest 
Observers under AO-7.  Details regarding the timing and mechanism of 
NASA's solicitation for data analysis funding requests will be 
announced after the results of the ESA peer review have been released; 
please do not submit a budget with your observing proposal.

For additional technical or programmatic information regarding U.S. 
participation in the XMM-Newton mission, please contact:


Technical Information:          Dr. Steve Snowden 
                                Goddard Space Flight Center 
                                Code 662 
                                Greenbelt, MD  20771 
                                Tel:  (301) 286-8100 
                                Fax:  (301) 286-1684 
                                Steven.L.Snowden@nasa.gov 

Programmatic Information:       Dr. Wilton Sanders 
                                Astrophysics Division
                                Science Mission Directorate
                                NASA Headquarters
                                300 E Street, SW
                                Washington, DC  20546
                                Tel:  (202) 358-1319
                                Fax:  (202) 358-3096
                                Wilton.T.Sanders@nasa.gov

Sincerely,

Dr. W. T. Sanders
U.S. XMM-Newton Program Scientist

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