The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) is an X-ray experiment on the International Space Station (ISS) dedicated to high-resolution timing and spectroscopy of neutron stars and other rapidly variable X-ray sources in the 0.2–12 keV band. NASA is issuing this call for Cycle 7 of the NICER General Observer (GO) program. Proposals for observations with NICER addressing all areas of astrophysics are solicited, with at least 7.5 Ms of available time and a limited amount of funding available in Cycle 7.
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), to allow NICER GO proposers to request correlated observations. It has also established a joint observing program with the National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). For Cycle 7, a total of up to 400 ks of NuSTAR observing time, up to 200 ks of Neil Gehrels Swift observing time, and up to fifty 20-second cadence and 300 2-minute cadence TESS windows are available through this program. Up to 5% (200–300 hours, depending on the telescope) of “open skies” time on the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), and Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) facilities is available through the NRAO joint program. Proposals requesting joint observations must clearly justify the need for NuSTAR/Swift/TESS and NRAO observations to accomplish the science goals of the investigation.
Proposals will be submitted in two stages, with Phase 1 focusing on the science goals and observation parameters. Selected Phase-1 proposers will be invited to submit a budget for Phase 2. Proposers may request, and must justify, an exclusive-use period of up to 6 months for GO data in this Cycle; by default, data will be subject to the existing NICER data-release policy (validated data are made available in the public HEASARC archive within two weeks of acquisition), with no exclusive-use period. Proposal merit is evaluated without regard to whether exclusive use is requested.
Deadline: Sep. 12, 2024