Low-angle scattering of protons on the XMM-Newton optics and effects on the on-board CCD detectors

Monte Carlo simulations are presented where protons are shown to propagate through X-ray telescope optics by grazing incidence scattering processes. If these protons reach charge coupled device (CCD) detectors in sufficient numbers, they can induce a radiation background, and at certain energies, the nonionising dose can cause degradation of the charge transfer efficiency (CTE). In the course of this work, the telescope optics of the Chandra and XMM-Newton observatories were simulated.