XMM2ATHENA, the H2020 project to improve XMM-Newtonanalysis software and prepare for Athena

XMM-Newton, a European Space Agency observatory, has been observing the X-
ray, ultra-violet and optical sky for 23 years. During this time, astronomy has
evolved from mainly studying single sources to populations and from a single wave-
length, to multi-wavelength/messenger data. We are also moving into an era of time
domain astronomy. New software and methods are required to accompany evolving
astronomy and prepare for the next generation X-ray observatory, Athena.
Here we present XMM2ATHENA, a programme funded by the European Union’s
Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. XMM2ATHENA builds on foun-
dations laid by the XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre (XMM-SSC), including key
members of this consortium and the Athena Science ground segment, along with
members of the X-ray community. The project is developing and testing new methods
and software to allow the community to follow the X-ray transient sky in quasi-real
time, identify multi-wavelength/ messenger counterparts of XMM-Newton sources
and determine their nature using machine learning. We detail here the first milestone
delivery of the project, a new online, sensitivity estimator. We also outline other
products, including the forthcoming innovative stacking procedure and detection
algorithms to detect the faintest sources. These tools will then be adapted for Athena
and the newly detected/ identified sources will enhance preparation for observing the
Athena X-ray sky.

Download full paper: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023arXiv2303100