29 November 2023
In its nearly 25-year history, the Chandra X-ray Observatory has revolutionized X-ray astronomy. Each year 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 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. Programs that can be accomplished under existing Chandra Calls are not a focus of this program.
Essential considerations in defining the program include:
White papers on CLP are due by 22 January 2024. More details on the CLP process can be found on its webpage.