During the last week Chandra completed the observing schedule as planned.

Of note this week was the release on Apr 27 of the CalDB version 4.12.4 and the Contributed Scripts and Modules version 4.18.1. The CalDB update includes updates to the ACIS CONTAM File Library and reduction of the lower FP_TEMP limit to -125.0C in the ACIS P2_RESP -119 to -120C file. For details, see: https://cxc.cfa.harvard.edu/caldb/downloads/Release_notes/CALDB_v4.12.4.html

Chandra press and image releases were issued on Apr 28 describing observations of a "little red dot" (LRD) — a class of red, distant objects — that is giving off X-rays, unlike others observed so far by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. LRDs are about 12 billion light-years from Earth or farther, and represent a not-yet understood category of objects in the early Universe. The newly-identified X-ray emitting LRD was discovered when comparing new data from Webb with a deep survey previously performed by Chandra; it may represent a transitional phase from a typical LRD to a growing supermassive black hole. As the black hole in the LRD consumes gas surrounding it, patchy holes in the clouds of gas appear. This allows X-rays from material falling onto the black hole to emerge from the cloud and become observable. For details, see: https://chandra.harvard.edu/press/26_releases/press_042826.html

The schedule of targets for the next week is shown below and includes an observation of PSRJ1810-0623 which was accepted as a Director's Discretionary Time Target of Opportunity on Apr 1.