Chandra Legacy Program: Call for White Papers

In its nearly 25-year history, the Chandra X-ray Observatory has revolutionized X-ray astronomy. The sub-arcsecond angular resolution, combined with the ACIS and HRC instruments plus LETG and HETG spectrometers, have enabled observations that have broken new ground in studies of objects and phenomena ranging from planets in our own Solar System to extremely distant black holes. Each year, the Observatory brings exciting results along with highly oversubscribed requests for new observations. With Chandra’s legacy secure, it is nonetheless necessary to ask this question:

Are there major initiatives (science challenges) for which the capabilities of Chandra — alone or in combination with other cutting-edge facilities — are absolutely required to address fundamental questions about our current understanding of the components and evolution of the Universe, and which would represent a crucial missed opportunity if they are not completed during Chandra's lifetime?

It is with this question in mind that we announce plans for a Chandra Legacy Program (CLP). The goal of the program is to provide the community with crucial results that only Chandra can produce and that will break new scientific ground and/or complement new and far-reaching observations in other wavelength regimes. Development of the CLP will be a multi-stage process that begins with this Announcement/Call for White Papers to select the topics for the CLP. A subsequent, fully open, Call for Proposals will be used to select the actual targets for implementing the CLP.

For more information on the opportunity, please read the full program details at the Chandra Legacy Program website.

Important Dates

• Chandra Legacy Program Announcement/Call for White Papers: 21 November 2023
• White Papers Due: 22 January 2024
• Announcement of White Paper Review Results & Call for CLP Proposals: 20 February 2024
• Formal CLP Proposals Due: 15 April 2024
• Announcement of Final CLP Selections and Targets: 15 May 2024