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Latest News:
Timing Error Fixed in January 2006 data
Two Black Holes Teach Astronomers a Lesson
RXTE Cycle 13 Announced
List of Previous RXTE News Items
Archive of Messages sent to XTENEWS Mailing List
Archive of all RXTE Publications (RXTE Results page)
Featured RXTE Press Releases (1998-present)
Timing Error Fixed in January 2006 data
January 16, 2009
Users of RXTE data should be aware of a one second timing error that was recently fixed in archival data from 01-12 January 2006, inclusive. Observations from that time range had an incorrect value for the TIMEZERO keyword (incorrect value 2.37842941), which has now been corrected to TIMEZERO=3.37842941. RXTE users following standard timing recipes with the old data would have experienced a one second time offset error. There are a number of pulsar observations in this time range which would be most vulnerable to such an error. All RXTE users are advised to re-download the data from this time range from the archive. When using the corrected files, the offset error should be resolved. The problem was due to leap second transition issues in 2006, which were anticipated during the more recent transition in 2008-2009.
Two Black Holes Teach Astronomers a Lesson
October 15, 2008
Observations of two different systems -- both containing stellar-mass black holes -- are showing astronomers how much they have yet to learn. Coordinated observations of these systems using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer reveal surprising dips in optical brightness moments before high-energy flares erupt.
The systems are Swift J1753.5-0127 -- discovered by NASA's Swift satellite -- and GX 339-4. In them, a black hole and a normal star orbit a few million miles apart. That's less than 10 percent of the distance between Mercury and our sun. [Read More]
RXTE Cycle 13 Announced
September 19, 2008
NASA has approved extending RXTE operations beyond the nominal end of Cycle 12 (December 2008) through September 2009. For more information, see the RXTE Cycle 13 Information Page.
Previous RXTE News Items
Other RXTE News Items, by Year
2008:
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RXTE SOF Realtime Data Area Has Moved August 14, 2008
New RXTE Mission-Long Data Products May 12, 2008
RXTE Discovers Stellar Ticking Time Bomb Explodes on Cue (April 30, 2008) RXTE Finds Smallest Known Black Hole (April 1, 2008)
Powerful Explosions Suggest Neutron Star Missing Link (February 21, 2008)
PCA SAA History File Production Resumes (February 1, 2008)
Temporary Interruption of PCA SAA History File Production (January 22, 2008)
ASM Source Intensity Errors for Sources in Crowded Fields (infrequent but significant) (January 2008)
2007:
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IMPORTANT: Problems and Corrections to RXTE PCA
Background (September 18, 2007)
Bizarre Planet-Mass Object Found Orbiting Neutron Star (September 12, 2007)
Brief period of incomplete Archive-mode data from HEXTE Cluster A (May 21, 2007)
Recommended Cycle 12 Targets Released! (May 2, 2007) RXTE Archive Downtime: 18:00 Jul 13 - 12:00 Jul 14, EDT (July 11, 2007)
RXTE Cycle 12 Proposal Deadline is Past! Review Preparations Underway! (March 23, 2007)
RXTE Cycle 12 Update & Deadline Reminder (January 26. 2007)
TNO Occultations May Be Instrumental Deadtime January 16, 2007
PCU 1 Loses Top Propane Layer (January 12, 2007)
2006:
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New RXTE Software Available
(HEAsoft 6.1.2) (December 8, 2006)
Active Galactic Nuclei as scaled-up Galactic Black Holes (December 7, 2006)
RXTE Catches Black Hole Spinning at near Light Speed (November 20, 2006)
RXTE Cycle 12 Announced (October 23, 2006)
HEXTE Cluster "A" Now Fixed-Pointing (October 20, 2006)
RXTE Used to Detect Trans-Neptunian Objects (August 10, 2006)
New PCA Background Models Released August 6, 2006
Pulsar Quakes Now Predictable! (June 5, 2006)
Cycle 11 Budget Deadline Has Passed (March 20, 2006)
RXTE Discovers source of Galactic X-ray Background ( February 22, 2006)
Information for Submitting Cycle 11 Budgets (February 7, 2006)
RXTE Researchers receive Rossi Prize! (January 18, 2006)
Hot New RXTE Results from the AAS Meeting in Washington, D.C. (January 11, 2006)
HEXTE Cluster A Rocking Anomaly (January 8, 2006)
2005:
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Recommended RXTE Cycle 11 Targets Released! (November 28, 2005)
RXTE Birthday Party & Mini-Conference (October 18, 2005)
RXTE Cycle 11: NSPIRES Guidance (September 15, 2005)
RXTE Cycle 11: Important Changes (June 29, 2005)
HEXTE Cluster A News (January 26, 2005)
Cycle 10 Budget Information Now Available (January 25, 2005)
RXTE Sees Hot Matter "Surf" Around Black Hole (January 10, 2005)
2004:
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Recommended RXTE Cycle 10 Targets Released! (December 3, 2004)
Cycle 10 Deadline Past---Proposals are In! (September 28, 2004)
RXTE & XMM Squeeze Neuton Star Equation of State (September 8, 2004))
RXTE Cycle 10 Proposal Due Date Extended to September 20, 2004; GO Funding May Increase! (July 27, 2004)
Michiel van der Klis wins NWO Spinoza prize! (June 24, 2004)
RXTE Cycle 10: Shaping the Next Decade of XTE Science! (June 14, 2004)
New Email Addresses to Contact the RXTE Science Operations Facility (SOF) (May 4, 2004)
Corrected Faint Background Models now Available (April 13, 2004)
March 2004 RXTE Paper of the Month (April 2004)
RXTE Sees Superburst Effect Accretion Disk in Real Time (March 18, 2004)
New! RXTE-related Astronomical Notices (March 17, 2004)
RXTE Catches Morphing Magnetar (January 28, 2004)
2003:
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Recommended RXTE
Cycle 9 Targets Released! (December 1, 2003)
Cosmic Brakes for Pulsars? (July 2, 2003)
Instructions for RXTE Cycle 9 Proposers Now on Web (June 13, 2003)
Recent RXTE Science Results (from HEAD Meeting) (June 1, 2003)
HEXTE Resumes Normal Operations After Short Interruption (April 3, 2003)
Stage 2 Budget Information (March 12, 2003)
Realtime Pseudo-Production Data Just Got Better! (March 5, 2003)
Cycle 8 Approved Observing Program (February 11, 2003)
Kouveliotou Shares Rossi Prize for RXTE Result! (January 15, 2003)
2002:
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RXTE Cycle 8 Deadline has Passed! (November 26, 2002)
RXTE Detects Strongest Known Magnetic Field (November 4, 2002 )
The Nature of Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (September 12, 2002)
New FTOOLS for Our Trade (June 25, 2002)
RXTE Breaks Six Figures, Shares with Public (June 12, 2002)
Discovery of Fastest Known Accreting Millisecond Pulsar (April 12, 2002)
Black Holes play the Same Tune (April 09, 2002)
New and Improved Background Models Released on New and Improved PCA Digest Page! (February 27, 2002)
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