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             |              CCC  XX   XX    OOO           |
Chandra      |             CC     XX XX    OO OO          | CXC
Electronic   |            CC       XXX    OO   OO         | Number 34
Bulletin     |             CC     XX XX    OO OO          | December
             |              CCC  XX   XX    OOO           | 2004
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Welcome to the Chandra X-ray Center's Electronic News Bulletin Number 34.

CXC Web site: cxc.harvard.edu

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to let us know.  

Please use this website to update your address or email: 
          http://cxc.harvard.edu/cdo/udb/userdat.html

Contents:

1. CIAO 3.2 Released - 15 December 2004 
   
2. Chandra Cycle 7 Call for Proposals 


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Item 1.  CIAO 3.2 Released - 15 December 2004
=============================================

The Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) is pleased to announce that version 3.2
of CIAO ("Chandra Interactive Analysis of Observations") and version
3.0.0 of CALDB are now available for download from:
http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/download/

They will also be available from the European mirror site at:
http://ledas-cxc.star.le.ac.uk/ciao/download/
                         -----------------------------------

The CIAO 3.2 software release contains a new tool for creating  ACIS
response matrices (mkacisrmf), four new ACIS hot pixel tools, and an
enhanced ARDLIB to handle ACIS spatial contamination.
It also includes the latest proposal planning tools for Chandra Cycle 7.

For complete information on this release, please see the full Release
Notes (http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/releasenotes/)
which also include a new paragraph "How CIAO 3.2 and CALDB 3.0.0 Affect
Your Analysis".
                          ---------------------------------

In tandem with CIAO3.2 is the release of the Chandra Calibration
Database CALDB 3.0.0 which contains essential elements for CIAO 3.2 to
work properly: new ACIS response, gain, and spatially-dependent
CONTAM files for making RMFs, ARFs, GARFs, and exposure maps.

Information about CALDB 3.0.0 can be found in the Chandra Calibration
Database website at http://cxc.harvard.edu/caldb/

                           ---------------------------------
CIAO3.2 is distributed for the following platforms:
Solaris 2.8
Linux Redhat 6.2
Linux Redhat 8
Mac OS X 10.2.8

More details at http://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/download/platforms.html

                             -----------------------------------

As always please send questions and requests for enhancements to the CXC
HELPDESK (http://cxc.harvard.edu/helpdesk/")

CIAO3.2 is a collaborative effort between the SAO/CXC Science Data
Systems, the SAO/CXC Data Systems, and MIT/CXC personnel.

Antonella Fruscione (for the CIAO development team)


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Item 2.  Chandra Cycle 7 Call for Proposals
===========================================

The CXC is pleased to announce the release of the Chandra Cycle 7 Call for 
Proposals (CfP). The Call for Proposals, the Proposers' Observatory Guide (POG),
proposal planning software and general information are posted on the 
"Proposer" web page at the CXC website:

http://cxc.harvard.edu/proposer/

Proposals are due: 15 March 2005

Hardcopy documents are available on request to the CXC helpdesk.

----------

     WHAT'S NEW IN CYCLE 7 from Section 1.5 of the CfP

* Specification of Observational Parameters:  The RPS target forms
  must include full specification of the observing parameters for every
  target and for every observation of that target. In complex cases that
  cannot be entered on the forms, please enter a detailed description in
  the Remarks section of the target form and/or contact the CXC HelpDesk
  for advice. If any additional constraints or preferences are included
  in the Remarks, you must set the corresponding flag (above the
  Remarks) to ensure that they are implemented. The information in the
  RPS forms will take precedence over any contradictory/different
  information described in the proposal science
  justification. Information included in the science justification and
  not in the RPS forms will not be accepted. Additional constraints or
  changes to observing parameters requested after the proposal deadline
  will only be considered in very unusual circumstances and will require
  approval by the CXC Director. 

* PDF Format Proposals Required:  The RPS system now generates only
  PDF format RPS target forms and requires PDF format science
  justification files. These will be distributed electronically to the
  peer reviewers. Hardcopies will be provided to the reviewers only on
  their request. We therefore recommend that you ensure that your PDF
  files are screen-readable. Please see the Proposer web page for
  advice on generating readable PDF files.

* Color Hardcopies:  Since proposals will be distributed to the peer
  reviewers electronically, color figures will be automatically
  available to them. Hardcopies (black and white) will be provided
  only at the specific request of individual reviewers. To ensure that
  any such reviewer receives color hardcopies, the proposer may choose
  to submit 10 color hardcopies to the CXC by the proposal deadline.

* RPS TOO Specification:  The procedure for specifying TOOs and their
  follow-up observations has been updated to require providing a full
  summary table. Specification of follow-up observations using a
  different instrument must be specified as a separate target but
  should be explicitly linked, via the summary table, to the
  associated trigger target. We strongly recommend that you refer to
  the detailed help in the RPS file and the threads on TOO
  specification for guidance in specifying your TOO correctly.

* Spitzer Joint Time Program:  110 hours of Spitzer time will be
  available for award by the Chandra peer review to joint proposals
  for which both Chandra and Spitzer data are required to address the
  science questions posed. This program is described in detail in
  Section 4.5.3. 

* ACIS Sub-arrays:  We have decreased the minimum number of rows
  allowed in an ACIS sub-array from 128 to 100 for cases in which only
  one CCD chip is activated. 

* Status of ACIS Bakeout:  The Chandra Project is continuing to
  consider warming the ACIS camera (a so-called "bakeout") in an
  attempt to evaporate some, if not all, of the molecular
  contamination from the ACIS optical blocking filters and restore a
  portion of the lost effective area at low energies. Proposers should
  not assume that a bakeout will take place when preparing their
  proposals. All proposal planning tools and documents have been
  prepared assuming no bakeout and use our best prediction of the
  contamination in the middle of Cycle 7.

* Updated Solar Pitch Angle Constraints: 
	    > Restriction around 90 degrees: has been updated to a maximum
	      observation of about 30 ksecs within the range 65-125 degrees. 
              Please  see Section 2.3 for more details.

	    > Pitch > 168 degrees Disallowed: due to recently
              recognized occurrences of excessive cooling in two
              different propellant lines, we will also be implementing
              a restriction against pointing at pitch angles greater
              than  168 degrees for all observations. For Cycle 7,
              please consider how to configure your observation such
              that it does not require a pitch angle greater than  168
              degrees. This may be done, for example, by making it
              completely unconstrained, or by checking that the time
              or roll constraints can be satisfied with the target at
              angles between 45 and  168 degrees from the sun (subject
              to the EPHIN-related pitch constraints described
              above). The ObsVis planning tool, available via the web
              or for download, can be used to check the pitch angle of
              a target as a function of time. Even if accepted by the
              peer review, if it should subsequently turn out that
              observations can only be accommodated at pitch angles
              greater than  168 degrees, they will not be done. 

* ACIS Effective Areas:  The ACIS-S and ACIS-I effective areas have
  been updated for Cycle 7 to include the newly released parameters
  for both types of CCD detectors and our current best estimate of the
  contaminant build-up. Note that the effective areas are generally
  higher than those used in Cycle 6 due to the combination of these
  updates. Please refer to the Effective Area Information link from
  the Proposer web page and/or the POG for more information.

* Time-Constrained Observations:  The maximum percentage of
  time-constrained observations that will be accepted in this Cycle
  has been reduced to 15% of the total, due to the increased
  difficulty in scheduling such observations. Please see Section
  3.2.1.12 for details.



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