NICER observation list: Target ID 463802

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
4638020101 342.946 -32.103 14.81920 -63.61139 59385.1843 59385.2565 663.00000 52 VALIDATED 59394.8 59399
4638020201 342.947 -32.103 14.81906 -63.61181 59388.0120 59388.0301 1247.00000 52 VALIDATED 59398.9 59402
4638020301 342.949 -32.099 14.82871 -63.61365 59392.6589 59392.6750 1268.00000 52 VALIDATED 59403.8 59406
4638020401 342.951 -32.099 14.82854 -63.61525 59394.9857 59394.9947 653.00000 52 VALIDATED 59407.8 59408
4638020601 342.949 -32.105 14.81406 -63.61330 59402.8275 59402.8958 258.00000 52 VALIDATED 59412.8 59416
4638020701 342.950 -32.104 14.81691 -63.61447 59406.6271 59406.6363 587.00000 52 VALIDATED 59416.7 59420