Observations of five recent Galactic classical novae with XMM-Newton have been performed. The main goal was to monitor (at equal time intervals of around 6 months) if the sources were emitting X-rays and to get their spectral properties. The unprecedented sensitivity of the XMM-Newton instruments allows for detection of recent novae with relatively short observation times, provided that they are still emitting. The broad spectral range of the EPIC cameras, as compared with ROSAT/PSPC, allows for a better coverage of the emission. Four out of five observed sources are still emitting 2 to 4 years after outburst (in the whole range 0.3-8.0 keV), which is a much larger fraction than the one from ROSAT observations. On the other hand, the lack of information below 0.3 keV (as compared with the excellent sensitivity of ROSAT/PSPC) together with the small observation times do not permit to get an unambiguous interpretation of the data.
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