Abstract

Invited Talk - Splinter SMBHs

Wednesday, 09 September 2026, 16:15   (MW-0250)

The XMM-Newton serendipitous survey

I. Traulsen, G. Lamer, A. Schwope, N. Webb on behalf of the XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam

The XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogues are compiled from all public observations by ESA's major X-ray telescope which has been in operation for over 25 years. In June 2026, the XMM-Newton Survey Science Centre and ESA released the new catalogue generation 5XMM. We have overhauled the source-detection strategy in order to optimise it for repeatedly observed fields and to further enhance the sensitivity to faint sources, and we have included many new products such as spectral fits, multi-wavelength counterparts, and automated source classification. The 5XMM-DR15 catalogue contains 818,656 X-ray sources, which were observed more than 2.5 million times in total, with the deepest parts achieving a month of effective exposure. About two thirds of the sources were tentatively classified as AGN. We will present the novel catalogue with its potential scientific impact.