Program: GS-2010A-Q-28

We are nearing completion of a long-term project to discover bright nearby neutron stars from within the 18,811 sources of the ROSAT Bright Source Catalog. Using statistical techniques of cross-correlation, we have selected catalog objects that are unlikely to have off-band counterparts, and observed them in the X-ray and UV with NASA's Swift satellite. Having filtered an initial target list of 245 bright X-ray sources down to 34 candidate neutron stars, we request Gemini (GMOS) observations to establish the absence of optical counterparts, to deep limits, for two of these - the necessary direct condition establishing their NS nature. Our strategy, including Gemini imaging observations, recently yielded Calvera, the first "isolated neutron star" discovered in five years and possibly the closest NS to Earth.