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GSFC XMM-Newton GOF Status Report #229: XMM-NEWTON NEWS #131


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_/           XMM-NEWTON NEWS #131    ---    23-Jan-2012           _/
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             XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre at
              ESA's European Space Astronomy Centre,
P.O. Box - Apdo. 78, 28691 Villanueva de la Canada, Madrid, Spain

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SOC Home Page:
      http://xmm.esac.esa.int/
Helpdesk Web interface:
      http://xmm.esac.esa.int/external/xmm_user_support/helpdesk.shtml
Helpdesk email address:
      xmmhelp@sciops.esa.int
News Mailing List:
      http://xmm.esac.esa.int/external/xmm_news/news_list/index.php

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Contents:

- Anticipated timeline for next XMM-Newton Announcement of
   Opportunity: AO-12

- EPIC-pn Fast Modes Calibration Status Document

- RGS Line Spread Function Update

- Conference Announcement: "Half a Century of X-Ray Astronomy"



Anticipated timeline for next XMM-Newton Announcement of Opportunity: AO-12
===========================================================================

The planned key milestones for the twelfth XMM-Newton "Announcement of
Opportunity" have  been established. Within  this AO-12 a new  call to
submit proposals for observations  to be performed with the XMM-Newton
observatory will be issued.

To be prepared for this, please find below the anticipated timeline:

Announcement of Opportunity .............. 21 August 2012
Due date for proposals ...................  5 October 2012 (12:00 UT)
Final OTAC approved programme ............ mid December 2012

For approved proposals only:

Start of phase II proposal submission .... 8 January 2013
Closure of phase II proposal submission .. 1 February 2013
Start of AO-12 observations .............. May 2013

The official "Announcement of Opportunity"  will be made public in the
XMM-Newton News  and on the XMM-Newton Science  Operations Centre home
page.


EPIC-pn Fast Modes Calibration Status Document
==============================================

A new version of the document: "Evaluation of the spectral calibration
accuracy  in EPIC-pn  fast  modes" is  available  from the  XMM-Newton
calibration portal at

        http://xmm2.esac.esa.int/docs/documents/CAL-TN-0083.pdf

This  document  is  intended   to  provide  XMM-Newton  users  with  a
systematic assessment  of the quality of the  spectral calibration for
EPIC-pn spectra taken in Burst and Timing Modes.

The new version includes:

* the  discussion of  a recently  discovered systematic  X-ray loading
   affecting the  majority of the  EPIC-pn fast modes exposures  in the
   XMM Science  Archive, as  well as  of the measures  put in  place to
   mitigate/correct it.

* an   evaluation  of   the   performance  and   limitations  of   the
   rate-dependent CTI correction embedded in the SAS task "epfast".

* the  results   of  recent   experiments  aimed  at   evaluating  the
   redistribution in Timing mode vis-a-vis other instrumental modes.


RGS Line Spread Function Update
===============================

Measurements as  accurate as possible  of the positions and  widths of
lines are an important requirement of the high-resolution RGS.

Improvements to the RGS  line-spread function (LSF) were recently made
available in the new CCF components RGS[12]_LINESPREADFUNC_0005.CCF.

The accompanying release note

     http://xmm2.esac.esa.int/docs/documents/CAL-SRN-0275-1-2.ps.gz

gives  full details  of the  modifications that  were made,  and shows
examples of narrow emission lines  compared to models derived with the
old and new LSFs.


Conference Announcement:
"Half a Century of X-Ray Astronomy"
===================================

The Conference

          "Half a Century of X-Ray Astronomy"

will be held on 17-21 September 2012, in Mykonos Island, Greece.

X-ray Astronomy celebrates in 2012  its 50th birthday. This year finds
the XMM-Newton and Chandra missions quite mature after twelve years in
orbit.  They have  produced a wealth of exciting  results ranging from
accretion physics to  cosmology.  In 2012, the first  results from the
long  awaited  Nustar  mission  will  be presented,  while  the  final
preparations for the launch of SRG/eROSITA are taking place.

The  topics of  this conference  will cover  the full  range  of X-ray
Astronomy,  from X-ray  surveys,  AGN and  clusters,  to galaxies  and
accreting objects  in our Galaxy,  as well as instrumentation  and new
missions.

Deadline for abstract submission and early registration is 15th June 2012.

Full details are given in the Conference Web Page:

            http://www.astro.noa.gr/~xcosmo



Yours sincerely,

XMM-Newton SOC

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