XMM-Newton Orbit and Constraints Details

XMM-Newton Orbit details

The orbital parameters for XMM-Newton are given in the following table; below elements correspond to the following epoch: 2011-07-14@20:45:54 UT (JD: 2455757.4).
This epoch corresponds to the Perigee Passage for the start of revolution 2124.

Parameter	Value
Semi-major Axis (km)	66924.844
Inclination	62.166498°
Eccentricity	0.64259571
Argument of Perigee	100.35045°
RA of Ascending Node	85.987267°
Launch Date	Dec 10 1999
Orbit length (hours)	47.860632
Number of Ground Stations	2 (Perth and Kourou) occasionally Santiago and Vilspa

For an updated set of orbital elements for XMM-Newton you can always refer to the Two-Line Elements web page for Scientific satellites.

XMM-Newton Viewing constraints

The constraints applied in the visibility analysis are given in the table below:

Parameter	Value
Solar Avoidance Angle	70 - 110°
Earth Limb Avoidance Angle	42°
Moon Avoidance Angle	22°
Moon Avoidance Angle (during eclipses)	35°
Size of the visibility bins	2°x 2°
Minimum Altitude for Observation (km) ranges between:	40000 - 46000

Database of Observable Bins (DBOB)

In order to determine the visibility, the sky is divided into bins of approximately equal solid angle.
The visibility of each bin is then assessed against viewing constraints with respect to the Earth, Sun and Moon.
For a target to be considered as visible, the corresponding bin has be be fully visible, i.e.: all four corners of the bin should be constraint free.
The set of visible bins is known as the DataBase of Observable Bins - DBOB.
In this version (10.0) of the Visibility Checker the size of each bin is, approximately, 2°x 2°.

  All strips start at RA = 0°
  First strip (strip 0) is centered at Dec: 0° and covers from Dec: -01° to +01°
  All strips have a heigth of 2° (except the bins at the poles that cover from Dec: ±89° to ±90°).
  The number of bins per strip is:
    Strips 0 to ±2:    180 bins
    Strips ±3 to ±7:   175 bins
    Strips ±8 to ±12:  170 bins
    Strips ±13 to ±17: 155 bins
    Strips ±18 to ±22: 140 bins
    Strips ±23 to ±27: 115 bins
    Strips ±28 to ±32:  90 bins
    Strips ±33 to ±37:  60 bins
    Strips ±38 to ±42:  30 bins
    Strips ±43 to ±44:   5 bins
    Strips ±45:          1 bin