Probing galaxy evolution with the optical/UV monitor on XMM

The Optical Monitor is one of the three instruments on XMM, the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission, scheduled to launch in August of 1999. The Optical Monitor is a 30 cm telescope system that will image in 7 bands from 1500 A to 6000 A, with a resolution of 1 arcsecond. Two grisms are available for low-dispersion spectral discrimination. The Optical Monitor will be coaligned with the X-ray instruments and the expected long integrations will allow detection of point sources as faint as 24th magnitude. Over the course of the XMM mission, a large database of galaxy observations, both targeted and serendiptous, will be assembled, covering far-ultraviolet through optical wavelengths. We indicate here ways in which these observations will be used to study galaxy evolution.