Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 145, 351-364

Simulations of observations with the Optical Monitor of the X-ray Multi-Mirror Satellite

P. Royer - J. Manfroid - E. Gosset - J.-M. Vreux

Send offprint request: P. Royer, e-mail: proyer@ulg.ac.be

Institut d'Astrophysique, Université de Liège, 5 avenue de Cointe, B-4000 Liège, Belgium

Received January 21; accepted May 19, 2000

Abstract:

This paper addresses the question of the observations to be performed with the Optical Monitor (OM) of the X-ray Multi-Mirror Satellite (XMM) under several aspects. First, we discuss XMM-OM's photometric system and its colour transformations towards the standard $U\!BV$ system. Second, we establish a set of procedures to determine the temperature and the amount of interstellar absorption affecting the observed stars. Last, we address the possibility of isolating quasars in multidimensional colour diagrams based on the XMM-OM filter set.

Key words: satellite: XMM -- photometry: colour transformations; interstellar absorption; quasars: identification of candidates