RXTE Helpdesk/FAQ RXTE What's New HEASARC Site Map


RXTE
GOF
RXTE Information - Cycle 7 Guest Observer Program RXTE
FAQ


Schedule for Guest Observer Program Cycle 7

The provisional schedule for RXTE Cycle 7 is as follows:

  • Announcement released - June 18, 2001
  • Proposals due - September 17, 2001
  • Proposal review - November/December, 2001
  • Start of Cycle 7 observations - on or around March 1, 2002


Fully Electronic Proposal Submission for RXTE Cycle 7

new item FOR CYCLE 7, PROPOSAL SUBMISSION WILL BE FULLY ELECTRONIC.

NO hardcopies need be sent by postal mail for participation in this Cycle. RPS submission of the cover forms is still required. In addition, the cover forms and scientific justifications should be submitted electronically as PostScript files.

To submit electronically, PIs should:

  1. Enter their proposal data into RPS, saving often, and using the "Verify" button to perform final checks before submission. (This step is identical to previous RXTE cycles.)

  2. Submit the forms using the 'Submit' button in RPS.

  3. Wait (seconds-minutes) for the RPS acknowledgment, which will contain a 3-digit proposal submission number.

  4. Create a PostScript file of the forms, using the 'LaTeX' or 'PostScript' buttons within in RPS.

  5. Upload two (2) PostScript files per proposal, via RPS, one containing the forms, the other the Scientific Justification, technical feasibility information, and status of previous RXTE observations ("track record"), as specified in the Announcement and Appendices - particularly Section C.2.2. Full instructions on how to upload can be found in RPS. The two files must be named
    • nnn_flast_f.ps

    • nnn_flast_sj.ps

    where

    • nnn is the 3-digit proposal submission number supplied by RPS;

    • flast is the first initial and last name of the PI;

    • _f is the forms;

    • _sj is the scientific justification;

    e.g.: 017_asmale_f.ps, 017_asmale_sj.ps

  6. Wait (seconds-minutes) for a second RPS acknowledgment, confirming receipt and completion of the electronic submission process.

Notes:

  • When using RPS, remember to frequently save the html file containing your form entries. Files you're working on can be saved to your hard disk, and reloaded from there, with the RPS 'Save' and 'Reload' buttons.

  • If electronic submission is infeasible for you, please contact the RXTE Guest Observer Facility to make alternative arrangements.

  • PIs at non-US locations should prepare the PostScript files for their Scientific Justifications using US paper sizes, or risk truncation of their text when the GOF prints out copies of the proposals for the Peer Reviewers. In LaTeX, paper sizes can be adjusted using
    \setlength{\textwidth}{6.75in}
    \setlength{\textheight}{8.70in}
    

    or similar.


Other Important Features of Cycle 7

Here, we list other factors that potential RXTE proposers should be aware of. Aside from updating the Cycle number, this section is basically unchanged from Cycles 5 and 6.


Cycle 7 Announcement AN 01-OSS-01 and Appendices

The Announcement, Appendices A, C, and D, and the Technical Appendix are also available via anonymous FTP at heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte in the directory xte/nra.

Please note that:

  • Response matrices and PHA files for simulations are available via anonymous FTP at heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov in the directory xte/nra/responses.

  • The proposal aids PIMMS, viewing, recommd, hextemporize and hexterock are available on the web or via anonymous FTP at heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov in the directory xte/nra/software.


    If you'd like to be a Peer Reviewer ....

    The RXTE Cycle 7 Peer Review will take place in late 2001. The exact location and dates have not yet been finalized.

    Reviewers must have a PhD at the time of the Peer Review.

    If you would like to be considered as a reviewer, please email Mike Arida at peer_review@rosserv.gsfc.nasa.gov.


    RXTE Instrument Configurations: the easy route

    For all sources with total PCA count rates less than 1200/s (including all extragalactic observations) and HEXTE count rates less than 80/s, the SOC strongly recommends that proposers use the following set of instrument configurations:

        PCA EA1:           Standard1
        PCA EA2:           Standard2
        PCA EA3:           GoodXenon1_2s
        PCA EA4:           GoodXenon2_2s
        PCA EA5:           Idle
        PCA EA6:           Idle
    
        HEXTE Cluster A:   E_8us_256_DX1f
        HEXTE Cluster B:   E_8us_256_DX1f
    

    Note that RPS does not allow one to leave an EA unused. In this case one has to explicitly specify "Idle".

    Use defaults for all other HEXTE parameters.

    Note that this advice does not relieve the proposer from the obligation of providing estimates for the expected event count rates.

    In these cases there is no need to run recommd or elaborately justify the chosen configurations.



    If you have a question about RXTE, please send email to one of our
    help desks.

    This page is maintained by the RXTE GOF and was last modified on Wednesday, 24-Aug-2022 11:10:30 EDT.