We report on the production of a large area, shallow, sky survey, from XMM-Newton slews. The great collecting area of the mirrors coupled with the high quantum efficiency of the EPIC detectors have made XMM-Newton the most sensitive X-ray observatory flown to date. We use data taken with the EPIC-pn camera during slewing manoeuvres to perform an X-ray survey of the sky. Data from 218 slews have been subdivided into small images and source searched. This has been done in three distinct energy bands; a soft (0.2-2 keV) band, a hard (2-12 keV) band and a total XMM-Newton band (0.2-12 keV). Detected sources, have been quality controlled to remove artifacts and a catalogue has been drawn from the remaining sources. A 'full' catalogue, containing 4710 detections and a 'clean' catalogue containing 2692 sources have been produced, from 14% of the sky. In the hard X-ray band (2-12 keV) 257 sources are detected in the clean catalogue to a flux limit of 4x10^-12 ergs/s/cm2. The flux limit for the soft (0.2-2 keV) band is 6x10^-13 ergs/s/cm2 and for the total (0.2-12 keV) band is 1.2x10^-12 ergs/s/cm2. The source positions are shown to have an uncertainty of 8" (1-sigma confidence).
XMM-Newton, with the huge collecting area of its mirrors and the high quantum efficiency of its EPIC detectors, is the most sensitive X-ray observatory ever flown. This is strikingly evident during slew exposures, which, while yielding only at most 14 seconds of on-source exposure time, actually constitute a 2-10 keV survey ten times deeper than all other "all-sky" surveys. The current (April 2005) XMM archive contains 374 slew exposures which give a uniform coverage over around 10,000 square degrees (approx. 25% of the sky). Here we describe the results of pilot studies, the current status of…
The scientific data collected during slews of the XMM-Newton satellite are used to construct a slew survey catalogue. This comprises of the order of 4000 sources detected in the EPIC-pn 0.2-12 keV band with exposures of less than 15s and a sky coverage of about 6300 square degrees (source density ~0.65 per square degree). Below 2 keV the sensitivity limit is comparable to the ROSAT PSPC All-Sky Survey and the XMM-Newton slew survey offers long-term variablity studies. Above 2 keV the survey will be a factor of 10 more sensitive than all previous all-sky X-ray surveys. The slew survey is almost…
The low background, good spatial resolution and great sensitivity of the EPIC-pn camera on XMM-Newton give useful limits for the detection of extended sources even during the short exposures made during slewing maneouvers. In this paper we attempt to illustrate the potential of the XMM-Newton slew survey as a tool for analysing flux-limited samples of clusters of galaxies and other sources of spatially extended X-ray emission.
The XMM-Newton satellite is the most sensitive X-ray observatory flown to date due to the great collecting area of its mirrors coupled with the high quantum efficiency of the EPIC detectors. It performs slewing manoeuvers between observation targets tracking almost circular orbits through the ecliptic poles due to the Sun constraint. Slews are made with the EPIC cameras open and the other instruments closed, operating with the observing mode set to the one of the previous pointed observation and the medium filter in place. Slew observations from the EPIC-pn camera in FF, eFF and LW modes provi…
In an attempt to catch new X-ray transients while they are still bright, the data taken by XMM-Newton as it slews between targets is being processed and cross-correlated with other X-ray observations as soon as the slew data appears in the XMM-Newton archive. A bright source, XMMSL1 J070542.7-381442, was detected on 9 Oct 2007 at a position where no previous X-ray source had been seen. The XMM slew data and optical data acquired with the Magellan Clay 6.5m telescope were used to classify the new object. No XMM slew X-ray counts are detected above 1keV and the source is seen to be ~750 times br…
The great collecting area of the mirrors coupled with the high quantum efficiency of the EPIC detectors have made XMM-Newton the most sensitive X-ray observatory flown to date. This is particularly evident during slew exposures which, while giving only 15 seconds of on-source time, actually constitute a 2-10 keV survey ten times deeper than current "all-sky" catalogues. Here we report on progress towards making a catalogue of slew detections constructed from the full, 0.2-12 keV energy band and discuss the challenges associated with processing the slew data. The fast (90 degrees per hour) slew…
In recent years, giant amplitude X-ray flares have been observed from a handful of non-active galaxies. The most plausible scenario of these unusual phenomena is tidal disruption of a star by a quiescent supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy. Comparing the XMM-Newton Slew Survey Source Catalogue with the ROSAT PSPC All-Sky Survey five galaxies have been detected a factor of up to 88 brighter in XMM-Newton with respect to ROSAT PSPC upper limits and presenting a soft X-ray colour. X-ray luminosities of these sources derived from slew observations have been found in the range 10^41…
We have attempted to analyse all the available data taken by XMM-Newton as it slews between targets. This slew survey, the resultant source catalogue and the analysis procedures used are described in an accompanying paper. In this letter we present the initial science results from the survey. To date, detailed source-searching has been performed in three X-ray bands (soft, hard and total) in the EPIC-pn 0.2-12 keV band over ~6300 sq.degrees (~15% of the sky), and of order 4000 X-ray sources have been detected (~55% of which have IDs). A great variety of sources are seen, including AGN, galaxie…
We describe the production, properties and scientific potential of the XMM-Newton catalogue of serendipitous X-ray sources. The first version of this catalogue is nearing completion and is planned to be released before the end of 2002.
Aims: Pointed observations with XMM-Newton provide the basis for creating catalogues of X-ray sources detected serendipitously in each field. This paper describes the creation and characteristics of the 2XMM catalogue. Methods: The 2XMM catalogue has been compiled from a new processing of the XMM-Newton EPIC camera data. The main features of the processing pipeline are described in detail. Results: The catalogue, the largest ever made at X-ray wavelengths, contains 246,897 detections drawn from 3491 public XMM-Newton observations over a 7-year interval, which relate to 191,870 unique sources. …
We present CAIXA, a Catalogue of AGN In the XMM-Newton Archive. It consists of all the radio-quiet X-ray unobscured ($\mathrm{N_H}<2\times10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$) Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) observed by XMM-Newton in targeted observations, whose data are public as of March 2007. With its 156 sources, this is the largest catalogue of high signal-to-noise X-ray spectra of AGN. All the EPIC pn spectra of the sources in CAIXA were extracted homogeneously and a baseline model was applied in order to derive their basic X-ray properties. These data are complemented by multiwavelength data found in the li…
The Optical Monitor Catalogue of serendipitous sources (OMCat) contains entries for every source detected in the publicly available XMM-Newton Optical Monitor (OM) images taken in either the imaging or ``fast'' modes. Since the OM is coaligned and records data simultaneously with the X-ray telescopes on XMM-Newton, it typically produces images in one or more near-UV/optical bands for every pointing of the observatory. As of the beginning of 2006, the public archive had covered roughly 0.5% of the sky in 2950 fields. The OMCat is not dominated by sources previously undetected at other wavelengt…
We present a first catalogue of X-ray sources resulting from the central area of the XMM-LSS (Large Scale Structure survey). We describe the reduction procedures and the database tools we developed and used to derive a well defined catalogue of X-ray sources. The present catalogue is limited to a sub-sample of 286 sources detected at 4 sigma in the 1 deg^2 area covered by the photometric VVDS (VIRMOS VLT Deep Survey), which allows us to provide optical and radio identifications. We also discuss the X-ray properties of a larger X-ray sample of 536 sources detected at > 4 sigma in the full 3 deg…
It has been demonstrated that active galactic nuclei are powered by gas accretion onto supermassive black holes located at their centres. The paradigm that the nuclei of inactive galaxies are also occupied by black holes was predicted long ago by theory. In the last decade, this conjecture was confirmed by the discovery of giant-amplitude, non-recurrent X-ray flares from such inactive galaxies and explained in terms of outburst radiation from stars tidally disrupted by a dormant supermassive black hole at the nuclei of those galaxies. Due to the scarcity of detected tidal disruption events, th…
This paper describes a serendipitous galaxy cluster survey that we plan to conduct with the XMM X-ray satellite. We have modeled the expected properties of such a survey for three different cosmological models, using an extended Press-Schechter (Press & Schechter 1974) formalism, combined with a detailed characterization of the expected capabilities of the EPIC camera on board XMM. We estimate that, over the ten year design lifetime of XMM, the EPIC camera will image a total of ~800 square degrees in fields suitable for the serendipitous detection of clusters of galaxies. For the presently-fav…
We describe deep radio imaging at 1.4-GHz of the 1.3 square degree Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field (SXDF), made with the Very Large Array in B and C configurations. We present a radio map of the entire field, and a catalogue of 505 sources covering 0.8 square degrees to a peak flux density limit of 100 microJy. Robust optical identifications are provided for 90% of the sources, and suggested IDs are presented for all but 14 (of which 7 are optically blank, and 7 are close to bright contaminating objects). We show that the optical properties of the radio sources do not change with flux density, su…
We present the X-ray source catalogues for the XMM surveys of the 3-h and 14-h Canada-France Redshift Survey fields (0.5-10 keV flux range ~2E-15 - 1E-13 erg cm^-2 s^-1). We use a subset of the XMM sources, which have Chandra positions, to determine the best method of obtaining optical identifications of sources with only XMM positions. We find optical identifications for 79% of the XMM sources for which there are deep optical images. The sources without optical identifications are likely to be optically fainter and have higher redshifts than the sources with identifications. We have estimated…
Following the presentation of the XMM-LSS X-ray source detection package by Pacaud et al., we provide the source lists for the first 5.5 surveyed square degrees. The catalogues pertain to the [0.5-2] and [2-10] keV bands and contain in total 3385 point-like or extended sources above a detection likelihood of 15 in either band. The agreement with deep logN-logS is excellent. The main parameters considered are position, countrate, source extent with associated likelihood values. A set of additional quantities such as astrometric corrections and fluxes are further calculated while errors on the p…
This paper describes updated predictions, as a function of the underlying cosmological model, for a serendipitous galaxy cluster survey that we plan to conduct with the {\em XMM-Newton} X-ray Satellite. We have included the effects of the higher than anticipated internal background count rates and have expanded our predictions to include clusters detected at 3 sigma. Even with the enhanced background levels, we expect the XCS to detect sufficient clusters at z>1 to differentiate between open and flat cosmological models. We have compared the XCS cluster redshift distribution to those expected …
The Lockman Hole field represents the sky area of lowest Galactic line-of-sight column density N_H=5.7X10^19 cm^-2. It was observed by the XMM-Newton X-ray observatory in 18 pointings for a total of 1.16 Msec (raw EPIC pn observing time) constituting the deepest XMM-Newton exposure so far. We present a catalogue of the X-ray sources detected in the central 0.196 deg^2 of the field and discuss the derived number counts and X-ray colours. In the 0.5--2.0 keV band, a sensitivity limit (defined as the faintest detectable source)of 1.9X10^-16 erg cm^-2 s^-1 was reached. The 2.0--10.0 keV band and 5…
The XMM-NEWTON Science Archive (XSA) is being developed within the XMM-NEWTON Science Operations Centre at the ESA VILSPA Satellite Tracking Station of Villafranca del Castillo, near Madrid in Spain. The first public version was released on April 15, 2002. Based on the ISO Data Archive architecture and design, the XSA is accessible from the World Wide Web through a Java interface at http://xmm.vilspa.esa.es/xsa that allows: - powerful and complex queries against the observations and exposure catalogue for the first release and against the source catalogue in future releases - configurable resu…
We present optical identifications and a multi-band catalogue of a sample of 478 X-ray sources in the XMM and Chandra surveys of the central 0.6 deg^2 of the ELAIS-S1 field. The optical/infrared counterpart of each X-ray source was identified using R and IRAC 3.6 um bands. This method was complemented by the precise positions obtained through Chandra observations. Approximately 94% of the counterparts are detected in the R band, while the remaining are blank fields in the optical down to R~24.5, but have a near-infrared counterpart detected by IRAC within 6 arcsec from the XMM centroid. The mu…
This paper is the first of a series dedicated to the X-ray properties of the young open cluster NGC 6231. Our data set relies on an XMM-Newton campaign of a nominal duration of 180 ks and reveals that NGC 6231 is very rich in the X-ray domain too. Indeed, 610 X-ray sources are detected in the present field of view, centered on the cluster core. The limiting sensitivity of our survey is approximately 6E-15 erg/s/cm^2 but clearly depends on the location in the field of view and on the source spectrum. Using different existing catalogues, over 85% of the X-ray sources could be associated with at …
We present a catalog of 36,120 QSO candidates from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) Release Two (GR2) UV catalog and the USNO-A2.0 optical catalog. The selection criteria are established using known quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The SDSS sample is then used to assign individual probabilities to our GALEX-USNO candidates. The mean probability is ~50%, and would rise to ~65% if better morphological information than that from USNO were available to eliminate galaxies. The sample is ~40% complete for i<=19.1. Candidates are cross-identified in 2MASS, FIRST, SDSS, and XMM-N…
We describe in detail the nature of XMM-Newton EPIC background and its various complex components, summarising the new findings of the XMM-Newton EPIC background working group, and provide XMM-Newton background blank sky event files for use in the data analysis of diffuse and extended sources. Blank sky event file data sets are produced from the stacking of data, taken from 189 observations resulting from the Second XMM-Newton Serendipitous Source Catalogue (2XMMp) reprocessing. The data underwent several filtering steps, using a revised and improved method over previous work, which we describ…
In A0-1 we proposed an ambitious long-term survey of selected regions of our Galaxy (the XGPS survey) using the EPIC CCD cameras on XMM-Newton. The first phase of the programme, which aims to survey a strip of the Galactic Plane in the Scutum region, is currently underway. Here we report on the preliminary results from the first 15 survey pointings. We show that the XGPS survey strategy of fairly shallow (5-10 ks) exposures but wide-angle coverage is well tuned to the goal of providing a large catalogue of predominantly Galactic sources at relatively faint X-ray fluxes in the hard 2-6 keV band…
We present the XMM-LSS cluster catalogue corresponding to the CFHTLS D1 area. The list contains 13 spectroscopically confirmed, X-ray selected galaxy clusters over 0.8 deg2 to a redshift of unity and so constitutes the highest density sample of clusters to date. Cluster X-ray bolometric luminosities range from 0.03 to 5x10^{44} erg/s. In this study, we describe our catalogue construction procedure: from the detection of X-ray cluster candidates to the compilation of a spectroscopically confirmed cluster sample with an explicit selection function. The procedure further provides basic X-ray prod…
The X-ray source RX J0002+6246 was discovered close to the supernova remnant CTB1 in a ROSAT observation performed in 1992. The source phenomenology (soft spectrum, apparent lack of counterparts, possible pulsations at 242 ms, hints for surrounding diffuse emission) led to interpret it as an isolated neutron star in a new supernova remnant. We have analysed an archival XMM-Newton observation performed in 2001. The source coordinates, as computed on the XMM-Newton images, coincide with those of a bright source listed in optical and infrared catalogues. The X-ray spectrum is well described by an…
The deep homogeneous survey of the large Local-Group spiral galaxy M 31 is a milestone project for X-ray astronomy, as it allows a detailed X-ray inventory of an archetypal low-star-formation-rate galaxy like our own. We present first results of the deep XMM-Newton survey, which covers the entire D 25 ellipse. Information from different X-ray energy bands are combined in an X-ray colour image of M 31. In the first 15 observations we found about 1000 sources, the full survey will yield about 2000 X-ray sources. Sources will be classified using hardness ratios, extent, high quality spectra and t…
We explore the X-ray properties of a subset of the optically selected SDSS cluster sample of Goto et al. (2002), by analysing seven public XMM-{\em Newton} pointings, with exposure times ranging from $\sim$ 4 to 46 ksec. There are in total 17 SDSS clusters out of which only eight are detected at X-ray wavelengths with $\rm f_{0.5-2keV}\magcir 1.2 \times 10^{-14}$ ergs cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$. For the remaining 9 SDSS clusters we estimate their 3$σ$ luminosity upper limits (corresponding to $L_x\mincir 5\times 10^{42}$ ergs/sec in the 0.5-2 keV band). This relatively low luminosity suggests that if …
We present a new cluster-finding algorithm based on a combination of the Voronoi Tessellation and Friends-Of-Friends methods. The algorithm utilises probability distribution functions derived from a photometric redshift analysis and is tested on simulated cluster-catalogues. We use a 9 band photometric catalogue over 0.5 square degrees in the Subaru XMM-Newton Deep Field. The photometry is comprised of UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey infrared J and K data combined with 3.6 micro-m and 4.5 micro-m Spitzer bands and optical BVRi'z' imaging from the Subaru Telescope. The cluster catalogue contains 13 cl…
The Optical Monitor (OM) on-board XMM-Newton obtained optical/ultraviolet data for the XMM-Newton Extended Survey of the Taurus Molecular Cloud (XEST), simultaneously with the X-ray detectors. With the XEST OM data, we aim to study the optical and ultraviolet properties of TMC members, and to do correlative studies between the X-ray and OM light curves. In particular, we aim to determine whether accretion plays a significant role in the optical/ultraviolet and X-ray emissions. The Neupert effect in stellar flares is also investigated. Coordinates, average count rates and magnitudes were extrac…
We aim to test a method of efficiently selecting X-ray obscured AGN in the 2XMM-Newton EPIC Serendipitous Source Catalogue. By means of a strong correlation established using the XMM-Newton Hard Bright Sample between the intrinsic absorption and the hardness ratio to the 0.5-2.0 keV and 2.0-4.5 keV bands, an efficient way of selecting absorbed sources has been worked out. A hardness ratio selection based on the 2XMM-Newton pre-release Source Catalogue led us to the definition of candidates likely to be obscured in X-rays. X-ray and optical spectral analysis were performed for three objects. St…
GRB050223 was discovered by the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer on 23 February 2005 and was the first Gamma-Ray Burst to be observed by both Swift and XMM-Newton. At the time of writing (May 2005), it has one of the faintest GRB afterglows ever observed. The spacecraft could not slew immediately to the burst, so the first X-ray and optical observations occurred approximately 45 minutes after the trigger. Although no optical emission was found by any instrument, both Swift and XMM-Newton detected the fading X-ray afterglow. Combined data from both of these observatories show the afterglow to be …
We have obtained a sample of 143 normal galaxies with X-ray luminosity in the range $10^{38} - 10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$ from the cross-correlation of the ROSAT HRI Brera Multi-scale Wavelet (BMW -- HRI) Catalogue with the Lyon-Meudon Extragalactic Database (LEDA). We find that the average X-ray properties of this sample are in good agreement with those of other samples of galaxies in the literature. We have selected a complete flux limited serendipitous sample of 32 galaxies from which we have derived the logN-logS distribution of normal galaxies in the flux range $1.1 - 110 \times 10^{-14}$ erg …
We report on two XMM-Newton observations performed in 2006 of the luminous low-mass X-ray binary XB1832-330 which is located in the galactic globular cluster NGC 6652 and is probably an ultracompact binary (orbital period less than 1 hour). The aim of these observations is to investigate the low-energy absorption towards NGC6652 and in particular to search for Ne-rich material local to the binary, which has been suggested as a possible spectral signature of Neon rich degenerate companions. XMM-Newton observed the source twice, in 2006 September and October. High resolution spectroscopy with th…
We report results from {\it XMM-Newton} observations of thirteen X-ray bright BL Lacertae objects, selected from the {\it Einstein} Slew Survey sample. The spectra are generally well fit by power-law models, with four objects having hard ($α<1; F_ν\propto ν^{-α}$) spectra that indicates synchrotron peaks at $>5$ keV. None of our spectra show line features, indicating that soft X-ray absorption ``notches'' must be rare amongst BL Lacs, rather than common or ubiquitous as had previously been asserted. We find significant curvature in most of the spectra. This curvature is almost certainly intrin…
The upcoming XMM Large Scale Structure Survey (XMM-LSS) will ultimately provide a unique mapping of the distribution of X-ray sources in a contiguous 64 sq. deg. region. In particular, it will provide the 3-dimensional location of about 900 galaxy clusters out to a redshift of about 1. We study the prospects that this cluster catalogue offers for measuring cosmological parameters. We use the Press-Schechter formalism to predict the counts of clusters and their X-ray properties in several CDM models. We compute the detection efficiency of clusters, using realistic simulations of XMM X-ray image…
We present the results of an XMM-Newton observation of the young (~2-4 Myr) cluster around the hot star sigma Orionis. In a previous paper we presented the analysis of the RGS spectrum of the central hot star; here we discuss the results of the analysis of the full EPIC field. We have detected 175 X-ray sources, 88 of which have been identified with cluster members, including very low-mass stars down to the substellar limit. We detected eleven new possible candidate members from the 2MASS catalogue. We find that late-type stars have a median log L_X/L_bol ~ -3.3, i.e. very close to the saturat…
In an analysis of XMM-Newton archival observations of the bright Local Group spiral galaxy M 31 we study the population of X-ray sources (X-ray binaries, supernova remnants) down to a 0.2-4.5 keV luminosity of 4.4E34 erg/s. EPIC hardness ratios and optical and radio information are used to distinguish between different source classes. The survey detects in an area of 1.24 square degree 856 sources. We correlate our sources with earlier M 31 X-ray catalogues and use information from optical, infra-red and radio wavelengths. As M 31 sources we detect 21 supernova remnants (SNR) and 23 SNR candid…
We present the results of a complete spectral survey of the X-ray point sources detected in five XMM-Newton observations along the major axis of M31 but avoiding the central bulge, aimed at establishing the population characteristics of X-ray sources in this galaxy. We obtained background subtracted spectra and lightcurves for each of the 335 X-ray point sources detected across the five observations from 2002. We also correlate our source list with those of earlier X-ray surveys and radio, optical and infra-red catalogues. Sources with more than 50 source counts are individually spectrally fit…
The maximum number density of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), as deduced from X-ray studies, occurs at z<~1, with lower luminosity objects peaking at smaller redshifts. Optical studies lead to a different evolutionary behaviour, with a number density peaking at z~2 independently of the intrinsic luminosity, but this result is limited to active nuclei brighter than the host galaxy. A selection based on optical variability can detect low luminosity AGNs (LLAGNs), where the host galaxy light prevents the identification by non-stellar colours. We want to collect X-ray data in a field where it exist…
We report results from {\it XMM-Newton} observations of thirteen X-ray bright BL Lacertae objects, selected from the {\it Einstein} Slew Survey sample. The survey was designed to look for evidence of departures of the X-ray spectra from a simple power law shape (i.e., curvature and/or line features), and to find objects worthy of deeper study. Our data are generally well fit by power-law models, with three cases having hard ($Γ<2; dN/dE \propto E^{-Γ}$) spectra that indicate synchrotron peaks at $E \gsim 5$ keV. Previous data had suggested a presence of absorption features in the X-ray spectra…
The first X-ray survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) was performed with the Einstein satellite, revealing diffuse X-ray emission from hot gas and discrete X-ray sources. The ROSAT observations between 1990 and 1998 supplied the most sensitive survey with imaging instruments in the soft X-ray band (0.1 - 2.4 keV). The PSPC and HRI observations covered 59 square degrees of the LMC and yielded a catalogue of about 1000 sources. Large efforts were undertaken to identify and classify the X-ray sources according to the nature of their X-ray emission. X-ray properties were used together with in…
