Targets of Opportunity (TOOs)
RXTE Guest Observer Facility - RXTE Frequently Asked Questions
Two Types of TOO
There are two types of TOO, both of which will be handled as routinely as possible:
- NRA TOOs are proposals that were submitted and accepted as a result of the NRA cycle. Since their scientific objectives have already been approved, we require only confirmation of a few details, a brief restatement of the scientific objectives, along with a justification of the particular TOO "trigger".
- Non-NRA TOOs have not been through the NRA cycle, which means that a compelling scientific case must be made for inserting them into the mission timeline. In addition, the SOC requires the same information about the proposed target (such as position, expected flux) as any other proposed target.
Please note that this classification also applies if you wish to observe someone else's accepted NRA target as a TOO.
In order to submit an RFO (request for observation) of either type of TOO, please use ARK/RPS. In order to access the RXTE TOO request web form, you must first create an ARK account and/or join the XTETOO group. Please refer to the ARK/RPS instructions for the XTETOO group for the step-by-step details.
The decision whether to observe a TOO is made by the Project Scientist.
If you have a question about RXTE, please send email to one of our help desks.