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Abstract

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 wavelength, 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. Herewe presentXMM2ATHENA,
a program funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.
XMM2ATHENA builds on foundations 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.