Chandra Newsletter

Chandra X-ray Center Manager’s Report

Mark Weber

New Chandra X-ray Center Manager Mark Weber reports on the past year at the CXC.

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ACA Dynamic Background Patch: the Inside Story

Tom Aldcroft, Mark Baski, Jean Connelly, Paul Viens

In 2017, a plan was hatched to patch the background determination for the Aspect Camera Assembly (ACA), which was suffering from years of radiation damage and rising temperatures. In May 2023, dozens of NASA and Chandra personnel waited with baited breath as that patch was uplinked to the observatory. Tom Aldcroft, Mark Baski, Jean Connelly, and Paul Viens recount the story of how this dynamic background patch came to be.

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HETG Update

Melania Nynka, on behalf of the HETG Team

The High-Energy Transmission Grating continues to be a workhorse for understanding the X-ray universe at high spectral resolution. Melania Nynka, on behalf of the HETG team, provides some highlights of the HETG science over the past year.

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Meeting Report: High-resolution X-ray Spectroscopy

H. Moritz Günther, David Huenemoerder

On August 1–3, 2023, Cambridge was buzzing with excitement for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy, as participants of our annual workshop were in town. SOC Co-chairs Moritz Günther and David Huenemoerder provide a recap of the workshop, including thoughts on how to effectively enable hybrid participation.

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A New Way to Cite Chandra Data

Raffaele D’Abrusco and the DPAOps team

Continuing work to make Chandra data more easily citable and discoverable, the DPAOps team has implemented Digital Object Identifier (DOI) support for the Chandra Source Catalog and for any arbitrary set of Chandra entities. Raffaele D’Abrusco explains how these work and how you can enable data discoverability in your upcoming papers.

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Chandra Legacy Program

Rodolfo Montez Jr., for the Chandra Director's Office

The Chandra X-ray Center recently announced a call for white papers to commence the implementation of the Chandra Legacy Program (CLP), in which nominally 6 Ms of observations will be reserved to ensure any fundamental questions requiring Chandra are completed within its lifetime. Some details of the program, including key dates, are provided within.

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Adam A. Frye Sr. (1962 – 2023)

Ken Kohls, Chris Eagan

June saw the passing of Adam A. Frye Sr., the manager of the Chandra Ground Operations Team. Adam had been with the mission since launch, and he was instrumental in establishing many of the procedures defining the mission’s groundwork. Colleagues Ken Kohls and Chris Eagan reminisce on Adam’s life.

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Eric Martin (1955 – 2023)

Paul Viens

For almost 30 years, Eric Martin was a vital member of the AXAF/Chandra team, working in the Operations Control Center as part of the Flight Operations Team. After a short but courageous battle with cancer, Eric passed away in August of 2023. Engineering and Operations team lead Paul Viens provides a heartfelt tribute to his deceased colleague.

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Cycle 25 Peer Review

Rodolfo Montez Jr. and the Chandra Director’s Office

Over the summer, the remote peer review was conducted for Cycle 25, recommending 17.0 Ms of observations. Rodolfo Montez Jr. and the Chandra Director’s Office describe the results of this process, including comparisons to historical trends, as well as this year’s biggest change: two panels specific to Target of Opportunity proposals.

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The CIAO Contributed Scripts: Always Improving

Antonella Fruscione, Kenny J. Glotfelty, Nicholas P. Lee, for the CIAO team

In addition to the standard features of CIAO, the CXC’s Science Data Systems group also maintains a package of scripts and modules to automate repetitive tasks and to help with specific analysis requirements. The CIAO team showcases some of the latest scripts of the past year.

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Upcoming Chandra Dates

Upcoming dates for Chandra users and observers, including the deadline for Chandra Legacy Program White Papers (January 22, 2024), Cycle 26 Call for Proposals deadline (March 14, 2024), and the formal Legacy Program proposal deadline (April 15, 2024).

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