Identifying the Nearest and Brightest Neutron Stars

Using catalog crosscorrelation and more than 400 ksec of Swift satellite Xrayand UV observations, we have identified 12 candidate neutron stars from amongthe 18,811 sources of the ROSAT Bright Source Catalog. With one of these nowconfirmed as the eighth isolated neutron star, .Calvera,. we request XMMNewtonobservations of the ^en remaining to collect (1) Subarcsec positions; (2)Highquality Xray spectra; and (3) Xray timing data. These three parallelinvestigations will address vital physical properties of the sources and revealwhether, and in what respects, they resemble the known populations of neutronstars. This single program thus has the potential to dramatically increase thenumber of bright, nearby neutron stars that are known. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]