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NICER Science Nuggets

Each week, the NICER team summarizes important scientific activities or results utilizing data from the NICER mission.

Here are past Science Nuggets listed in reverse chronological order. A list by topic is also available.

2024

2023

2022

  • December
  • November
  • October
    • 27 October 2022: Formation of an X-ray "corona" around a supermassive black hole 3 years after it destroyed a star
    • 20 October 2022: Observing an Outburst from the Fast Radio Burst source SGR 1935+2154 with NICER
    • 13 October 2022: OHMAN Alerts NICER to an Unprecedented Celestial Explosion
    • 06 October 2022: X-ray/Radio Correlation Probes Jet Outflows in High-Mass X-ray Binaries
  • September
  • August
    • 25 August 2022: A New Outburst from a Rosetta Stone Pulsar
    • 18 August 2022: NICER Tracks a Faint, Distant, Short-lived Pulsar Outburst
    • 11 August 2022: NICER reveals the anomalous fast orbital expansion of the eclipsing pulsar SWIFT J1749.4-2807
    • 4 August 2022: Eclipses reveal more than they conceal
  • July
    • 28 Jul 2022: NICER Reveals The Shocking and Explosive Nature of the Superstar Eta Carinae
    • 21 Jul 2022: Accretion features on display in an eclipsing pulsar system
    • 14 Jul 2022: Further NICER insights into X-ray bursts and their effects on accretion disks
    • 7 Jul 2022: A Pulsar's Eccentric Orbital Habit
  • June
    • 30 Jun 2022: NICER monitors thermonuclear outbursts in a neutron star binary
    • 23 Jun 2022: NICER discovers its 2nd accreting millisecond pulsar in two weeks
    • 16 Jun 2022: NICER discovers millisecond pulsations from the new transient MAXI J1816-195
    • 9 Jun 2022: Probing absorption of X-rays in a neutron-star binary
    • 2 Jun 2022: Sub-Second Synchrony for SS Cygni
  • May
    • 26 May 2022: Reactivation of 4U 1730-22 Observed by NICER
    • 19 May 2022: Observing a Pulsar and Finding Oxygen Around Earth
    • 12 May 2022: NICER Disentangles Adjacent X-ray Emitters
    • 05 May 2022: NICER Feeds a Reverberation Machine
  • April
    • 28 April 2022: Assessing the stability of Nature's best clocks
    • 21 April 2022: An X-ray outburst from a radio-loud magnetar after 13 years of quiescence
    • 14 April 2022: NICER's Cosmic Calibration
    • 7 April 2022: NICER Confirms X-ray "Heartbeats" from IGR J17091-3642
  • March
  • February
    • 17 February 2022: NICER Helps Solve a Hot Neutron Star Puzzle
    • 10 February 2022: Accreting on the edge: Witnessing accretion regime transitions on a magnetized neutron star
    • 03 February 2022: Using reflection to constrain the radius of a neutron star
  • January

2021

  • December
  • November
  • October
  • September
  • August
    • 26 August 2021: MAXI Triggers NICER Observations of a Superburst's After-effects
    • 19 August 2021: Continued NICER monitoring of the recurrent nova RS Oph
    • 12 August 2021: NICER Observes the Rare Recurring Nova RS Ophiuchi
    • 05 August 2021: The Changing X-ray Colors of a Spinning White Dwarf
  • July
    • 29 July 2021: NICER Tracks Recovery from a Long-duration Thermonuclear Burst on a Neutron Star
    • 22 July 2021: NICER Glimpses a Newborn Compact Object 200 million Light Years Away
    • 15 July 2021: NICER Confirms a Neutron Star Resides in the Historical X-ray Binary 4U 1730-22
    • 08 July 2021: NICER Connects the Dots in Accretion States of Black Hole Binaries
    • 01 July 2021: Successful Verification Test of OHMAN Software
  • June
    • 24 June 2021: NICER Observes the Brightest Black Hole Transient in Over a Decade
    • 17 June 2021: Limiting Pulsar Mountains
    • 10 June 2021: A new magnetar, Swift J1555.2-5402, confirmed and monitored with NICER
    • 03 June 2021: NICER Captures the Likely Launch of a Wind by a Supermassive Black Hole
  • May
    • 27 May 2021: Successful Application of NICER's New Sky Scanning Capability
    • 20 May 2021: NICER's first public Data Analysis and Science Workshop
    • 13 May 2021: Parity Purity
    • 06 May 2021: X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions from two previously quiescent galaxies
  • April
  • March
    • 25 March 2021: NICER teams up with multi-wavelength facilities to study the Galactic black hole system MAXI J1820+070
    • 18 March 2021: NICER Captures the Formation of an X-ray "Corona" around a Supermassive Black Hole after it Shreds a Star
    • 11 March 2021: A NICER First Look at the New X-ray Transient IGR J17533-2928
    • 04 March 2021: NICER Probes Unusual Accretion Conditions
  • February
  • January

2020

  • December
  • November
  • October
  • September
    • 24 September 2020: NICER observes a very bright X-ray flare from an accreting supermassive black hole 400 Million Years Ago
    • 17 September 2020: NICER reveals that the X-ray transient MAXI J1348-630 is a Likely Black Hole X-ray binary
    • 10 September 2020: A NICER View of the 2020 outburst of PSR J1846-0258
    • 03 September 2020: NICER Observations of Swift J1818.0-1607: a Missing Link between Magnetars and Rotation-Powered Pulsars
  • August
  • July
    • 30 July 2020: AM Her: The X-ray-Optical Connection
    • 23 July 2020: NICER Finds a Black Hole in MAXI J1727-203
    • 16 July 2020: NICER Observations of Stellar Death by Black Hole
    • 09 July 2020: Type-B QPO detected in NICER observation of MAXI J1348-630
    • 02 July 2020: A long-duration X-ray burst from IGR J17062-6143
  • June
    • 25 June 2020: eROSITA points NICER to a rare X-ray binary outburst in the Large Magellanic Cloud
    • 18 June 2020: Short-duration milliHertz QPO seen in 4U 1636-53
    • 11 June 2020: Paper examines link between outbursts and reflares in transient LMXBs
    • 04 June 2020: NICER celebrates 3 years in space
  • May
    • 28 May 2020: Recent MAXI alert likely triggered by accreting X-ray binary MAXI J0911-655
    • 21 May 2020: B(e) X-ray binary system GRO J1008-57 caught in an outburst
    • 14 May 2020: NICER observes a compact binary in outburst
    • 07 May 2020: NICER detection of the burst forest from the magnetar SGR 1935+2154
  • April
    • 30 April 2020: The NICER-NuSTAR view of the Neutron Star Low-mass X-ray Binary 4U 1735-44
    • 23 April 2020: Significant NICER presence at recent virtual physics meeting
    • 16 April 2020: The Sudden Re-appearance of Eta Carinae
    • 09 April 2020: NICER observes an outburst of the Rapid Burster
    • 02 April 2020: NICER watches as the Moon blocks the Crab pulsar
  • March
    • 26 March 2020: A new magnetar, Swift J1818.0-1607, offers clues to neutron star evolution
    • 19 March 2020: Thermonuclear X-ray bursts reveal that Swift J1858.6-0814 hosts a neutron star
    • 12 March 2020: X-ray flaring in MAXI J1820+070 probes emission near black hole
    • 05 March 2020: NICER results on PSR J0030+0451 prompt further studies
  • February
  • January
    • 30 January 2020: NICER observes the unusual black hole binary MAXI J0637-430
    • 23 January 2020: NICER catches a "Changing-Look AGN" in the process of changing
    • 16 January 2020: Highest frequency QPOs seen by NICER to date reported from EXO 1846-031
    • 09 January 2020: NICER observes Betelgeuse in response to recent dimming
    • 02 January 2020: Theorists speculate on implications of NICER's recent key result

2019

  • December
  • November
  • October
    • 31 October 2019: NICER detects multiple bursts from neutron star MAXI J1807+132
    • 24 October 2019: NICER discovers pulsations from new transient Swift J1845.7-0037
    • 17 October 2019: Recent AGN flare a member of a new class of transients
    • 10 October 2019: New X-ray pulsars point to the future of pulsar physics
    • 03 October 2019: NICER seeks detection of periodicity from re-awakened XTE J1739-285
  • September
    • 26 September 2019: An evolving broad iron line from the first Galactic ultraluminous X-ray pulsar, Swift J0243.6+6124
    • 19 September 2019: Unexpected changes detected in burst behavior from SAX J1808.4-3658
    • 12 September 2019: SAX J1808.4-3658 delayed-helium bursts seen in exquisite detail
    • 05 September 2019: NICER makes its first detection of a GRB afterglow
  • August
    • 29 August 2019: Peering into a clouded black hole
    • 22 August 2019: NICER reveals the intricacies of the innermost accretion disk in an ultra-compact X-ray binary
    • 15 August 2019: NICER observes a secondary peak in a thermonuclear burst from 4U 1608-52
    • 08 August 2019: NICER tracks a new outburst from SAX J1808.4-3658
    • 01 August 2019: EXO 1846-031 reawakens after 34-year silence
  • July
    • 25 July 2019: NICER's mission officially extended to 2022
    • 18 July 2019: NICER and NuSTAR simultaneously catch four X-ray bursts from 4U 1636-536
    • 11 July 2019: NICER's first neutron star radius measurement to be submitted soon
    • 04 July 2019: Dramatic changes in flaring behavior in only 15 minutes
  • June
    • 27 June 2019: NICER puts a magnifying glass on a rare outburst from an accreting pulsar
    • 20 June 2019: Observations of X-ray variability used to map accretion disk in Fairall 9
    • 13 June 2019: NICER X-rays the photosphere of a neutron star's companion
    • 06 June 2019: NICER teams up with OSIRIS-Rex for calibration study
  • May
    • 30 May 2019: NICER sees X-rays from star in another galaxy getting ripped apart
    • 23 May 2019: Rapid flare from GRS 1915+105 displays remarkable spectral features
    • 17 May 2019: Record-low flux reported for black-hole binary GRS 1915+105
    • 09 May 2019: Establishing IGR 17379-3747's large magnetic axis inclination
    • 02 May 2019: NICER evaluates X-ray environment near Sun-like stars
  • April
    • 25 April 2019: Swift J1858.6-0814: A rare, partially-obscured X-ray binary
    • 18 April 2019: NICER Observations of a Possible SN 1a: AT2019daj
    • 11 April 2019: NICER Observations of the Recurrent Black Hole Transient, XTE J1908+094
    • 04 April 2019: Follow-up of MAXI triggers provides new insight into transient events
  • March
    • 28 March 2019: State transition and radio flare in MAXI J1820+070
    • 21 March 2019: High visibility for NICER science at the March 2019 HEAD meeting
    • 14 March 2019: X-ray burst shows evidence of gravitational redshifting from neutron star
    • 07 March 2019: NICER takes part in a large multiwavelength campaign on Sco X-1
  • February
    • 28 February 2019: Scientific American heralds NICER's study of neutron star interiors
    • 21 February 2019: High-precision X-ray timing of three millisecond pulsars with NICER
    • 15 February 2019: A new outburst from magnetar XTE J1810-197
    • 07 February 2019: MAXI-triggered observations of stellar flares yield rapid NICER results
  • January
    • 31 January 2019: NICER follows up on a bonanza of MAXI-discovered Galactic black hole systems
    • 24 January 2019: Joint observations catch stellar flare from UX Ari from radio to X-rays
    • 17 January 2019: Combined X-ray data uncovers a new class of transient AGN flares
    • 10 January 2019: Nature magazine highlights NICER black hole result with cover story
    • 03 January 2019: NICER's data archive demonstrates its wide dynamic range

2018

  • December
  • November
  • October
  • September
  • August
    • 30 August 2018: NICER and NuSTAR jointly discover that IGR J17591-2342 is in a binary system
    • 16 August 2018: NICER discovers oscillatory nuclear burning in GS 1826-238
    • 09 August 2018: Space weather study guides background estimates for NICER data
    • 03 August 2018: Pulsar X-ray light curves give insight to key NICER science goal
  • July
  • June
    • 28 June 2018: NICER observes 4U 1630-47, a black hole with frequent outbursts
    • 21 June 2018: Joint NICER/GBM observations of the first Galactic ULX pulsar
    • 15 June 2018: X-ray emission line reveals warped disk in MAXI J1535-571
    • 07 June 2018: NICER observes unusual variability in GRS 1915+105
    • 01 June 2018: NICER detects a soft X-ray kilohertz QPO in 4U 0614+09
  • May
    • 24 May 2018: Target of Opportunity observations of new transient ASASSN-18el
    • 17 May 2018: NICER/NuSTAR joint fit helps clarify spectrum of MAXI J1535-571
    • 10 May 2018: A NICER look at the Aql X-1 hard state
    • 03 May 2018: PhD thesis discovers QPO in NICER data of MAXI J1535-571
  • April
    • 26 April 2018: Pulsar and orbital periodicities discovered in IGR J17062-6143
    • 19 April 2018: NICER detects multiple "reflection" features in the low-mass X-ray binary Serpens X-1
    • 12 April 2018: NICER discovers a new pulsar in IGR J17379-3747
    • 05 April 2018: NICER sees an accreting millisecond pulsar
  • March
    • 29 March 2018: Using observations during slew periods for opportunity science
    • 22 March 2018: Quasi-periodic oscillation detected in new transient MAXI 1820+070
    • 16 March 2018: Oscillations detected in the rise phase of a Type I X-ray burst
    • 09 March 2018: SEXTANT program improves its XNAV capabilities
    • 01 March 2018: NICER detects changes in magnetar 1E 1048.9-5937
  • February
  • January
    • 23 January 2018: Intensity changes in the observed pulsed flux from Swift J0243.6+6124
    • 18 January 2018: PSR J0030+0451 pulsations as seen by XMM-Newton and NICER
    • 12 January 2018: Millisecond pulsar detected for the first time in X-rays

2017