The Scientific Instruments On-board XMM - Technical Highlights

G. Bagnasco, H. Eggel, F. Giannini & S. Thürey

The payload carried by the X-Ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM), the second Cornerstone of the ESA Horizon 2000 Science Programme, consists of three scientific instruments: the Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS), the European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC), and the Optical Monitor (OM). This article provides a general overview of the main characteristics of all three instruments.