News Archive
April 20, 2009
Fermi Symposium
The 2009 Fermi Symposium is dedicated to results and prospects for scientific exploration of the Universe with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and related studies. The symposium will be held shortly after the Fermi data release, offering an opportunity for the astrophysical community to share in the excitement of discoveries being made with the Fermi instruments. Topics will include: blazars and other active galactic nuclei, pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, supernova remnants, diffuse gamma radiation, unidentified gamma-ray sources, and searches for dark matter. The meeting will be held November 2-5, 2009 in downtown Washington, D.C.
March 18, 2009
Fermi Cycle-2 Proposal Deadline Has Passed
The Fermi Cycle-2 proposal deadline has passed. A total of 207 proposals were received in response to the Cycle-2 NRA. The proposals are currently being processed internally at the Fermi SSC, and will be assigned to anonymous peer-review committees for evaluation. The Cycle-2 peer review will take place on May 18-20, 2009. The results of that review will be announced several weeks thereafter. Feel free to contact the Fermi Help Desk if you have any questions.
March 17, 2009
Fermi Update
The Fermi spacecraft and LAT both experienced processor resets, and data taking stopped around 2009-03-11 03:41 UT. Both Fermi instruments were powered off and the spacecraft put itself into a stable configuration. There are good hypotheses for the root causes, and the investigation will continue. In the meantime, the spacecraft and both instruments have been completely restored to pre-event configurations, thanks to excellent work across the team, and routine science operations were restarted over the weekend. Preliminary checks, from low-level hardware distributions through a quick look at the bright pulsars, indicate everything is in excellent shape. GRB alerts have been re-enabled. The valid data periods will be marked very soon, after more detailed checkout.
February 20, 2009
Fermi Cycle-2 Guest Investigator Proposals Due Mar 6, 2009
Fermi Cycle-2 Guest Investigator proposals are due on March 6, 2009, and should be submitted via the HEASARC ARK Remote Proposal System. Click here for proposal preparation and submission details. In support of proposal preparation activities, the LAT Bright Source List has been released, and a LAT bright source list, and an initial release of the Fermi science analysis tools can be obtained here. Proposal preparation workshops were held in Chicago, Boston, at UC Berkeley, and at Goddard Space Flight Center. Presentations from these workshops are available here.
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February 6, 2009
Fermi Cycle-2 Guest Investigator Proposals Due Mar 6, 2009
Fermi Cycle-2 Guest Investigator proposals are due on March 6, 2009. Click here for proposal preparation and submission details. In support of proposal preparation activities, a LAT bright source list, and an initial release of the Fermi science analysis tools can be obtained here, and the LAT Bright Source List is also available. Proposal preparation workshops, with the goal of enhancing Guest Investigator participation, are currently scheduled for three venues: Chicago (1/29/09), UC Berkeley (2/11/09) and Boston (2/13/09). A similar event for Washington DC area astronomers is now planned for February 20 at Goddard Space Flight Center.
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January 6, 2009
NASA'S Fermi Telescope Unveils a Dozen New Pulsars
NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has discovered 12 new gamma-ray-only pulsars and has detected gamma-ray pulses from 18 others. The finds are transforming our understanding of how these stellar cinders work.
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