XMM Users' Handbook

   
XMM Survey Science Centre (SSC)

XMM Survey Scientist: Dr. M. G. Watson, Leicester University

The XMM Survey Science Centre (SSC) is an international collaboration involving a consortium of 8 institutions in the UK, France and Germany together with associate scientists in Spain, Italy, Belgium, Japan, USA and the UK. The major roles of the SSC in the XMM project are:

• The coordination of the XMM serendipitous survey via a ground-based follow-up/identification programme;

• the development, with the XMM SOC, of the XMM science analysis software (SAS);

• the routine pipeline processing of all XMM observations.

These activities are briefly summarised here with greater emphasis on the follow-up programme as this is not described elsewhere in any detail. The SSC follow-up programme will also be of interest as potential XMM observers are requested to consider agreeing to the serendipitous content of their XMM observations being used in the context of this programme.

Further information on the XMM SSC and its role in the project is available from the SSC web server at the URL http://xmmssc-www.star.le.ac.uk/.