Observing schedules

Short Range Observatory Schedule    

This is the confirmed schedule of NuSTAR observations. This sequence of observations has been uploaded to the spacecraft and will execute autonomously unless interrupted by a new schedule, Target of Opportunity, or instrument and spacecraft anomalies. This schedule will cover various time ranges depending on the exposure time goal of the observations, but will usually be for a period of at least one week.

The times reported here are the start and end of the on-target period (day of year UTC). The estimated exposure time takes into account Earth occultation and the SAA passage time where detector background is increased. The end time of the observation is the start of the slew to the next target. Please examine the NuSTAR As-Flown Timeline (AFT) for the log of past observations.

The NuSTAR schedule (including past observations and those in the short-range schedule) is also available via a Google Calendar that is automatically updated when the schedule changes. While we make a best-effort attempt to keep the calendar updated, the schedule found on this page will always contains the most accurate version of the NuSTAR schedule.

This schedule is also available above as a csv file in the IVOA Observation Locator Access Protocol (ObsLoc) format currently under development. See WD-ObsLocTAP and WD-ObjVisSAP documents submitted to IVOA at www.ivoa.net/documents/index.html for more information. The first three rows in the csv file list the Column Name, Unit, and Type. Note that columns are delimited by a '|' symbol and that many of the fields have NULL values or values specific to the NuSTAR observatory and instruments. This is a prelimary format and is very likely to be updated once these protocols are adopted by the IVOA. If you have any questions please contact nustar-help at srl.caltech.edu

Table Header Explanations obs_start - Observation start time (UTC)
obs_end - Observation end (UTC)
sequenceID - Observation ID
Name - Target name
J2000 RA - J2000 epoch Right Ascension (degrees)
J2000 Dec - J2000 epoch Declination (degrees)
Exp - Approximate exposure time (ks)
Notes - Observation notes

obs_start obs_end sequenceID Name J2000 RA J2000 Dec Exp Notes
2024:115:15:10:142024:116:14:20:0091002519006SN2024ggi169.5921-32.83753949.1(3/3) DDT
2024:116:15:05:052024:116:23:00:0060161400002CGCG333m038158.5981000073.0140000018.6BAT AGN
2024:116:23:15:152024:118:08:35:0060902002002Mrk_231194.0593088356.8736773373.0(1/2) Coordinated with XMM
2024:118:09:15:032024:118:21:00:0030902026004GX_17p2274.00579-14.0362823.1(2/4) Coordinated with NICER
2024:118:21:40:172024:120:08:30:0060902002004Mrk_231194.0593088356.8736773376.4(2/2) Coordinated with XMM
2024:120:08:50:062024:120:19:45:0060902024010Mrk_421166.1137938.2088322.7(5/8) Coordinated with IXPE
2024:120:20:00:212024:123:18:35:00509010010022SXPS_J111416d1p4818168.5670848.30917149.2(1/2) Coordinated with XMM


Long Range Observatory Schedule    

This is the latest NuSTAR long-term schedule. Observations have been sorted into one-week intervals, taking into account Sun, Moon, required exposure time, and other constraints. So the date is the Monday of the week in which the observation is scheduled to begin.

E.g. An observation with a date 2020-07-01 in this table is scheduled to have the observation starting sometime
between 2020-06-29 0000Z (DOY 2020:181) and 2020-07-06 0000Z.

The NuSTAR observing schedule is driven by the large number of observations coordinated with other observatories and the need to complete the NuSTAR Guest Observer programs. The exposure goal for targets allotted within one week may appear to fill more then the available NuSTAR exposure time in that week (average is 330 ks of exposure time per week) but many observations start in one week and complete in the following week.

Please note that only observations with specific time constraints are listed here, other GO targets will be scheduled at the first opportunity in each observing cycle. Targets of opportunity, and instrument or spacecraft anomalies, may also cause the observing times of targets to shift. This long-term schedule is our present estimate of the future order of observations. Please be aware of the uncertainties.

Notes: Information in the notes column indicates which program the observation is assigned to. Joint program observations with XMM-Newton (e.g. X19) usually involve coordinated NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observations, similarly with Chandra, INTEGRAL, Swift, and NICER. Additional coordinations are shown in parenthesis. E.g. N06 (XMM) indicates a coordinated observation in NuSTAR GO cycle-6 with XMM-Newton, S16 (MAGIC) indicates a joint NuSTAR / Swift cycle-16 observation coordinated with MAGIC, etc.

ToO = Target of Opportunity    DDT = Directors Discretionary Time    EGS = Extragalactic legacy surveys    CAL = Calibration   
N07 = NuSTAR GO cycle-7    I15 = INTEGRAL GO cycle-15    X22 = XMM-Newton GO cycle-22    C21 = Chandra GO cycle-21   
S16 = Swift GO cycle-16    R03 = NICER GO cycle-3

Note: coordinated observations with the XRISM observatory are a preliminary schedule only

Last updated: 2024-01-29

Table Header Explanations DOY week - Day of Year of the Monday of the week the observation is scheduled to start
week_date - Date of the Monday of the week the observation is scheduled to start
obsID - Observation ID number
name - Target name
J2000_RA - J2000 epoch Right Ascension (degrees)
J2000_Dec - J2000 epoch Declination (degrees)
Exp - Approximate exposure time (ks)
Notes - Observation notes

DOY week week of observation obsID name J2000 RA J2000 Dec Exp Notes
2024:1132024-04-2260902002Mrk_231194.05930856.8736772x60X22 (XMM)
2024:1202024-04-29509010012SXPS_J111416d1p4818168.5670848.30917200N09 (XMM)
2024:1412024-05-2060901032Mrk_766184.610529.8129250X22 (1/6) (XMM)
2024:1552024-06-0360901032Mrk_766184.610529.812923x50X22 (2-4/6) (XMM)
2024:1622024-06-1060901032Mrk_766184.610529.8129250X22 (5/6) (XMM)
2024:1762024-06-2460901032Mrk_766184.610529.8129250X22 (6/6) (XMM)