Date: September 29th 2006

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT # 4209

PERIOD COVERED: UT September 28, 2006 (DOY 271)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 8794

NICMOS Post-SAA calibration - CR Persistence Part 5

A new procedure proposed to alleviate the CR-persistence problem of NICMOS Dark frames will be obtained immediately upon exiting the SAA contour 23, and every time a NICMOS exposure is scheduled within 50 minutes of coming out of the SAA The darks will be obtained in parallel in all three NICMOS Cameras The POST-SAA darks will be non-standard reference files available to users with a USEAFTER date/time mark The keyword 'USEAFTER=date/time' will also be added to the header of each POST-SAA DARK frame The keyword must be populated with the time, in addition to the date, because HST crosses the SAA ~8 times per day so each POST-SAA DARK will need to have the appropriate time specified, for users to identify the ones they need Both the raw and processed images will be archived as POST-SAA DARKSs Generally we expect that all NICMOS science/calibration observations started within 50 minutes of leaving an SAA will need such maps to remove the CR persistence from the science images Each observation will need its own CRMAP, as different SAA passages leave different imprints on the NICMOS detectors

NIC3 10894

Probing the Birth of Super Star Clusters with NICMOS

The formation of ``super star clusters" represents an extreme mode of star formation in the local universe Star clusters with radii < 5pc and masses exceeding 10^4 solar masses are now known to be common in starbursts These clusters are amazingly densely packed with massive stars, and can have a violent impact on their host galaxies and the surrounding IGM The effects of massive star clusters perhaps were even more important in the earlier universe, when galaxy mergers and starbursts were common, and the formation of massive globular clusters was ubiquitous However, our knowledge of the formation and early evolution of such massive clusters remains poorly understood, and observations have only begun to probe these stages The near-IR fluxes and colors of natal clusters change dramatically in their early stages of evolution, providing important diagnostics We will use NICMOS to explore the early evolution of massive star clusters through observations of a sample of nearby starburst galaxies containing the recently discovered ultra-young massive star clusters First identified as compact optically- thick free-free radio sources, these natal clusters are still embedded in their birth material and obscured at optical wavelengths Sensitive, high-resolution observations in the near-IR are critical for investigating the properties of these clusters as they evolve from being completely obscured by their natal clouds to fully emerged and optically visible NICMOS F160W, F205W, F187N, and F190N {roughly H, K, and Pa-alpha} images will allow us to determine their ages, extinctions, ionizing fluxes, embedded stellar masses, and the morphological relationship between radio, mid-IR, and optically visible clusters These results will ultimately provide insight into the earliest stages of super star cluster evolution and the properties of massive star formation throughout the universe

NIC3 10899

Identifying z>7 galaxies from J-dropouts

NICMOS Parallel Imaging campaigns covered enough sky {250 pointings} with enough sensitivity in the 110W and 160W filters to identify 6 extremely red resolved sources which are prime candidates for J-band dropouts Their complete absence of detectable J band flux can be caused by an opaque Lyman cut-off at z=8-10 We propose to followup these candidates with NICMOS imaging and jointly propose Spitzer IRAC photometry Deep F110W and Spitzer/IRAC 3 5/4 8 micron imaging will confirm if any of these candidates are indeed Lyman Break galaxies observed less than 500 Myrs after the Big Bang Genuine LBGs will remain undetected in F110W, while being detected with flat spectra in the IRAC bands The combined SED will provide information about the stellar mass of these galaxies, and the possible presence of evolved stars or dust reddening The proposed observations will be sensitive enough to detect the F110W flux from galaxies as red as {J-H}=2 8 {AB mags, 5 sigma} If any of the candidates are detected with bluer colors, they will most likely be exceptional "Distant Red Galaxies" at z of 4 to 6 The proposed data will constrain the stellar populations of these extraordinarily red galaxies, which would be candidates for the earliest, most massive galaxies which formed

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated )

HSTARS: (None)

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: 17935-0 - SA Section 1 and 5 Current Anomaly Investigation

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

                     SCHEDULED      SUCCESSFUL

FGS GSacq 03 03 FGS REacq 08 08 OBAD with Maneuver 22 22

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:

SA Section Anomaly Investigation Flash Report #2

On DOY 2006/271, the commanding for the SA Sections 1 and 5 Current Anomaly Investigation continued at 13:16 GMT with the opening of the -CC SPA trim relay on SA section 1 A distinct fault current behavior was observed - SA section 1 current read ~2 6A higher than nominal values for removing one 4-string SPA which is concurrent with the existing -CC SPA short to structure

In the subsequent test orbit, the +D SPA trim relay on SA section 1 was opened yielding a nominal output for removing a 5-string SPA For both test orbits, a step decrease in SA section 1 current did not occur simultaneously with off-lining either SPA Instead there was a ~1A step decrease in SA section 1 current when battery 5 reached charge cut-off later in the orbit (similar to fault behavior in most orbits since the initial event on DOY 2006/222)

In all orbits, SA section 5 current has continued to read ~1 8A higher than nominal when battery 5 reached charge cut-off

The test completed on DOY 2006/271 at 16:05 GMT EPS SEs will provide a more detailed analysis of the test results in the near future

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