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NICER Joint Progam Guide - Cycle 6

Starting in Cycle 5, NICER users can propose to observe with additional NASA facilities in support of their proposed NICER observations.The NICER mission has established joint observing programs with NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), Neil Gehrels Swift observatory (Swift), and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which enable NICER Guest Observer (GO) proposers to obtain data from any (or a combination) of these facilities together with NICER for correlated studies. Proposals requesting joint observations must clearly justify the need for the NuSTAR/Swift/TESS observations in order to accomplish the science goals of the NICER investigation. Details of these joint programs are provided below.

NuSTAR

NICER and NuSTAR observations offer a powerful diagnostic of high-energy sources in the total energy range 0.2-79 keV. NuSTAR has made up to 400 ks available to NICER Cycle 5 proposers who wish to take advantage of this opportunity. Proposals requesting NuSTAR coordinated observations must demonstrate the unique value of adding NuSTAR exposures for the proposed science and present a detailed feasibility case in its support. Joint observations with NuSTAR must be designated as Category A or B to be approved for observations in Cycle 5. Each target for which NuSTAR time is requested must also have an associated NICER time request.

The requested NuSTAR exposure time per observation (i.e., a single visit to a target) is constrained to a minimum of 20 ks and the time interval between successive visits must be > 14 hours. Sources with fluxes >10-11 ergs s-1 cm-2 within 5 degrees of the target may cause increased non-uniform background gradients due to stray light. Users should check observations for potential stray-light contributions using the tools available at the NuSTAR Researcher page. If a field is designated as heavily contaminated, proposers should submit a request for a feasibility analysis to nustar-help@srl.caltech.edu at least two business days prior to the proposal submission deadline.

NuSTAR observations of high count-rate targets (>50 cps/NuSTAR focal-plane module) require special planning and increased downlink capacity. High count-rate observations of duration >30 ks are difficult and can be accepted only if well motivated. High count-rate observations longer than 75 ks will be considered only if the total requested time is distributed in multiple observations, each with exposure time <75 ks and separated by more than 1 week.

Proposers should carefully review NuSTAR technical documentation available from the NuSTAR CalTech website and the NuSTAR proposal webpage.

TESS

Rapid cadence photometric observations within continuous viewing intervals as enabled by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have the potential to enhance the value of certain NICER observations. As such, the NICER and TESS management teams have established a joint program with the goal of facilitating such possibilities. Through this program, NICER GO proposers can be awarded new TESS targets within fields of view to be covered by the TESS observation plan during the relevant NICER GO cycle. The scientific investigations that will be supported within this program are those that can be, in the judgment of NASA-convened peer-evaluation committees, enhanced by the combination of new NICER and TESS observations.

A total allotment of 300 two-minute-cadence TESS target slots and 50 twenty-second-cadence TESS target slots will be made available through this program. It is required that the observations proposed can be accommodated within the TESS observation plan and meet all technical and programmatic requirements of that mission. Please see the TESS observation sectors for TESS Year 5 and TESS Year 6 for information about which sky regions will be observed at a given time. Also see the TESS list of pointings for years 1 through 7 (please note that the year 7 pointings are provisional). Proposers can also use the TESS Viewing tool to find TESS viewing intervals for a given target. Requests for time-constrained or target-of-opportunity (ToO) observations are permissible provided that they similarly satisfy these requirements. ToO requests could pertain to known objects or to generic object classes that could fortuitously be covered in the TESS observing plan. Only single-year NICER investigations are eligible for inclusion in this joint program.

Proposers intending to request joint NICER-TESS observations are strongly encouraged to review the mission-specific information available from the TESS Science Support Center website. The scientific justification must detail whether 2-min or 20-sec cadence is needed to meet the goals of the proposal (and why the 10-min cadence Full Frame Image data are not sufficient). General criteria to be considered by the evaluation committees will include:

  • the suitability of using new TESS data products for the proposed investigation;
  • the extent to which the investigation complements and enhances the anticipated science return from the TESS and NICER missions;
  • the degree to which the proposed investigation places demands upon mission resources; and
  • the degree to which the proposed investigation capitalizes on the unique capabilities of TESS.
Joint program requests will be subject to technical evaluation by both mission teams prior to the usual peer-evaluation process. Information resulting from the technical evaluations may be made available to the scientific peer-evaluation panels.

Swift

The flexibility and multiwavelength capabilities of NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory can complement and augment some NICER investigations. The NICER and Swift management teams have therefore established a reciprocal agreement in which Swift observing time up to 200 ks per year is made available for coordinated observations with NICER to facilitate those possibilities. The science investigations supported under this program are restricted to those that are enhanced by the combination of NICER data and observations using the Swift observatory. Proposals may be time-constrained, including coordinated, monitoring, and ToO observations. Proposals requesting Swift coordinated observations must demonstrate the unique value of adding Swift exposures for the proposed science and present a full and detailed feasibility case in its support. The award of time shall occur without further scientific review by the Swift mission.

All standard observing restrictions for both observatories will apply to joint proposals under this program. The Swift project will perform feasibility checks on the proposed observations and reserves the right to reject any requests determined to be technically unfeasible for any reason.

Proposers intending to request joint NICER-Swift observations are strongly encouraged to first review the mission specific information from Swift Technical Handbook or the Swift GI webpage. The Swift Helpdesk and/or the HEASARC Helpdesk can be contacted in case of questions.

NSF/NRAO Facilities: JVLA, VLBA and GBT

Coordinated observations at radio wavelengths and NICER X-ray observations offer a powerful diagnostic of non-thermal sources like pulsars and AGN. In Cycle 6, proposers may request up to 5% of the observing time (about 200-300 hours, depending on the telescope) on the Jansky Very Large Array, the Very Long Baseline Array, and/or the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope.

Proposals requesting joint observing time on NRAO facilities are encouraged to review the Memorandum Of Understanding Between The National Radio Astronomy Observatory And The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer for details of the joint program. Technical details regarding NRAO facilities are available on the NRAO Science Website.

Last modified: Thursday, 07-Sep-2023 11:15:06 EDT