NICER observation list: Target ID 463801

Abstract

A time-domain variability analysis of 117 blazars in the Swift-BAT 105-month catalog reveals that a significant portion (~30%) exhibit very low fractional variability (<20%) on a monthly timescale, which is deeply at odds with previous studies that show that blazars are highly variable in the X-rays on a wide range of timescales. However, the BAT data are not sensitive to changes on shorter timescales or lower amplitude variability. We propose NICER observations of four 'quiescent' BAT blazars whose variability is not detected by the BAT to determine if a subset of this population show variability at lower amplitudes and shorter timescales. The higher sensitivity per unit time of NICER and its scheduling flexibility make it an ideal instrument with which to carry out this investigation.
Obsid RA DEC l b Start End Exposure Number of modules Status of Processing Date of Processing Public date
4638010101 322.301 -15.645 35.92964 -41.86807 59384.1306 59384.1435 0.00000 52 VALIDATED 59393.3 59398
4638010201 322.299 -15.644 35.93023 -41.86632 59387.2954 59387.3065 710.00000 52 VALIDATED 59397.9 59401
4638010301 322.301 -15.645 35.92958 -41.86809 59391.3060 59391.3264 1480.00000 52 VALIDATED 59404.9 59405
4638010401 322.301 -15.643 35.93138 -41.86732 59394.0766 59394.9324 4284.00000 52 VALIDATED 59407.7 59408
4638010402 322.301 -15.642 35.93336 -41.86702 59395.4333 59395.5775 3405.00000 52 VALIDATED 59407.8 59409
4638010403 322.301 -15.641 35.93417 -41.86718 59396.0803 59396.2227 2468.00000 52 VALIDATED 59407.9 59410
4638010404 322.302 -15.642 35.93333 -41.86807 59397.5678 59397.7067 2629.00000 52 VALIDATED 59413.7 59411
4638010501 322.300 -15.644 35.93008 -41.86762 59398.8567 59398.8681 873.00000 52 VALIDATED 59411.8 59412
4638010601 322.303 -15.641 35.93579 -41.86814 59401.2440 59401.2544 675.00000 52 VALIDATED 59411.0 59415