Date: January 17th 2007

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT # 4279

PERIOD COVERED: UT January 16, 2007 (DOY 016)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

ACS/HRC 11054

Photometric and Spectrophotometric Absolute Calibration

Verify repeatability of the ACS instrumentation on a single bright star to ?0 2% Determine any shift in the filter bandpasses since the preflight lab measurements Determine the relative magnitude of the 3 primary WD calibrators to 0 1% Refine the sensitivity calibration of the CCD prism and grisms at field center and determine the repeatability accuracy of this calibration Determine the level of variability of the three HST red standard stars VB-8 {M7}, 2M0038+18 {L3 5} and 2M0559-14 {T5} and also measure their short wavelength {<7000A} fluxes Measure the WFC red leak by adding one orbit for WFC observation of the sdF8 SDSS standard BD+17d4708 in order to look for continuity vs SED from O,F,M,L,T

ACS/SBC 10862

Comprehensive Auroral Imaging of Jupiter and Saturn during the International Heliophysical Year

A comprehensive set of observations of the auroral emissions from Jupiter and Saturn is proposed for the International Heliophysical Year in 2007, a unique period of especially concentrated measurements of space physics phenomena throughout the solar system We propose to determine the physical relationship of the various auroral processes at Jupiter and Saturn with conditions in the solar wind at each planet This can be accomplished with campaigns of observations, with a sampling interval not to exceed one day, covering at least one solar rotation The solar wind plasma density approaching Jupiter will be measured by the New Horizons spacecraft, and a separate campaign near opposition in May 2007 will determine the effect of large-scale variations in the interplanetary magnetic field {IMF} on the Jovian aurora by extrapolation from near-Earth solar wind measurements A similar Saturn campaign near opposition in Jan 2007 will combine extrapolated solar wind data with measurements from a wide range of locations within the Saturn magnetosphere by Cassini In the course of making these observations, it will be possible to fully map the auroral footprints of Io and the other satellites to determine both the local magnetic field geometry and the controlling factors in the electromagnetic interaction of each satellite with the corotating magnetic field and plasma density Also in the course of making these observations, the auroral emission properties will be compared with the properties of the near-IR ionospheric emissions {from ground-based observations} and non thermal radio emissions, from ground-based observations for Jupiter?s decametric radiation and Cassini plasma wave measurements of the Saturn Kilometric Radiation {SKR}

ACS/WFC 10793

A Survey for Supernovae in Massive High-Redshift Clusters

We propose to continue our ongoing program designed to measure, to an unprecedented 30% accuracy, the SN-Ia rate in a sample of massive z=0 5-0 9 galaxy clusters The SN-Ia rate is a poorly known observable, especially at high z, and in cluster environments The SN rate and its redshift dependence can serve as powerful discrimiminants for a number of key issues in astrophysics and cosmology Our observations will: 1 Put clear constraints on the characteristic SN-Ia "delay time," the typical time between the formation of a stellar population and the explosion of some of its members as SNe-Ia Such constraints can exclude entire categories of SN-Ia progenitor models, since different models predict different delays 2 Help resolve the question of the dominant source of the high metallicity in the intracluster medium {ICM} - SNe-Ia, or core-collapse SNe from an early stellar population with a top-heavy IMF, perhaps those population III stars responsible for the early re-ionization of the Universe Since clusters are excellent laboratories for studying enrichment {they generally have a simple star-formation history, and matter cannot leave their deep potentials}, the results will be relevant for understanding metal enrichment in general, and the possible role of first generation stars in early Universal enrichment Observations obtained so far during cycle 14 yield many SNe in our cluster fields, but our follow-up campaign reveals most are not in cluster galaxies Our interim results indicate a cluster SN rate at the very low end of the range considered, and its accuracy is limited by the small number of cluster SNe We request additional visits to increase the number of cluster SNe and achieve a measurement that is not limited by Poisson errors A detailed progress report is included

ACS/WFC 10809

The nature of "dry" mergers in the nearby Universe

Recent studies have shown that "dry" mergers of red, bulge-dominated galaxies at low redshift play an important role in shaping today's most massive ellipticals These mergers have been identified in extremely deep ground-based images of red sequence galaxies at z ~ 0 1 The ground-based images reach surface brightness limits of AB ~ 29, but lack the resolution to study the morphologies of the galaxies inside the effective radius Here we propose to obtain ACS images of a representative sample of 40 of these red sequence galaxies: 15 ongoing dry mergers, 15 remnants, and 10 undisturbed objects We will measure the isophote shapes and ellipticities of the galaxies, their dust content, morphological fine structure {shells and ripples}, AGN content, and their location on the Fundamental Plane By comparing galaxies in different stages of the merging process we can constrain the amount of gas associated with these red mergers, the effect of active nuclei, and track structural changes As two galaxies can be observed in a single orbit 20 orbits are requested to observe the 40 galaxies

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

NIC2 10906

The Fundamental Plane of Massive Gas-Rich Mergers: II The QUEST QSOs

We propose deep NICMOS H-band imaging of a carefully selected sample of 23 local QSOs This program is the last critical element of a comprehensive investigation of the most luminous mergers in the nearby universe, the ultraluminous infrared galaxies {ULIRGs} and the quasars This effort is called QUEST: Quasar / ULIRG Evolutionary STudy The high-resolution HST images of the QUEST QSOs will complement an identical set of images on the ULIRG sample obtained during Cycle 12, an extensive set of ground-based data that include long-slit NIR spectra from a Large VLT Program, and a large set of mid-infrared spectra from a Cycle 1 medium-size program with Spitzer This unique dataset will allow us to derive with unprecedented precision structual, kinematic, and activity parameters for a large unbiased sample of objects spanning the entire ULIRG/QSO luminosity function These data will refine the fundamental plane of massive gas-rich mergers and enable us to answer the following quesitons: {1} Do ultraluminous mergers form elliptical galaxies, and in particular, giant ellipticals? {2} Do ULIRGs evolve into optical bright QSOs? The results from this detailed study of massive mergers in the local universe will be relevant to understanding the basic physical processes involved in creating massive early-type host on the one hand, and growing/feeding embedded massive black holes on the other, in major galaxy mergers This is an important question since 50% of cosmic star formation at high-z and most of the big BHs appear to be formed in this process

NIC2, ACS/WFC 10802

SHOES-Supernovae, HO, for the Equation of State of Dark energy

The present uncertainty in the value of the Hubble constant {resulting in an uncertainty in Omega_M} and the paucity of Type Ia supernovae at redshifts exceeding 1 are now the leading obstacles to determining the nature of dark energy We propose a single, integrated set of observations for Cycle 15 that will provide a 40% improvement in constraints on dark energy This program will observe known Cepheids in six reliable hosts of Type Ia supernovae with NICMOS, reducing the uncertainty in H_0 by a factor of two because of the smaller dispersion along the instability strip, the diminished extinction, and the weaker metallicity dependence in the infrared In parallel with ACS, at the same time the NICMOS observations are underway, we will discover and follow a sample of Type Ia supernovae at z > 1 Together, these measurements, along with prior constraints from WMAP, will provide a great improvement in HST's ability to distinguish between a static, cosmological constant and dynamical dark energy The Hubble Space Telescope is the only instrument in the world that can make these IR measurements of Cepheids beyond the Local Group, and it is the only telescope in the world that can be used to find and follow supernovae at z > 1 Our program exploits both of these unique capabilities of HST to learn more about one of the greatest mysteries in science

NIC3 10861

An ACS Treasury Survey of the Coma cluster of galaxies

We propose to use the unique spatial resolution of HST and ACS to construct a Treasury imaging survey of the core and infall region of the richest local cluster, Coma We will observe samples of thousands of galaxies down to magnitude B=27 3 with the aim of studying in detail the dwarf galaxy population which, according to hierarchical models of galaxy formation, are the earliest galaxies to form in the universe Our initial scientific objectives are: 1} A study of the structure of the dwarf galaxies, including scaling laws, nuclear structure and morphology, to compare with hierarchical and evolutionary models of their formation 2} A study of the stellar populations from colors and color gradients, and how the internal chemical evolution of galaxies is affected by interaction with the cluster gaseous and galaxy environment 3} To determine the effect of the cluster environment upon morphological features, disks, bulges and bars, by comparing these structure in the Coma sample with field galaxy samples 4} Identification of dwarf galaxy samples for further study with the new generation of multi-object and integral-field spectrographs on 8-10 metre class telescopes such as Keck, Subaru, Gemini, and GTC This is the first such survey of a nearby rich cluster It will provide a key database for studies of galaxy formation and evolution, and a very needed reference for comparison with similar galaxy surveys both in lower density environments in the nearby universe, and in high density environments at high redshifts

S/C 4974

TRTTEST

The Transcient Response Test is for the periodic performance monitoring of the FGS 2R servo A mechanism

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

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

HSTARS: 10632 - Reacqs(2,3,2) fail to RGA Hold due to FGS-3 SRLEX This HSTAR is documenting falures of the Reacquisitions that occurred on 015/20:39:48, 015/22:18:52 and 015/23:58:10 that were originally documented in HSTAR 10631 That HSTAR also documented a failure that occurred on the acquisition attempt but which was due to a different reason These Reacqs failed due to a Search Radius Limit Exceeded Failure on FGS-3 that was caused by the fact that the guide star was actually a galaxy

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: 17989-0 - TRT Test #13 17966-0 - Monitor FHST Sanity Check via TMDIAG Slots 0-2

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

                   SCHEDULED      SUCCESSFUL

FGS GSacq 09 09 FGS REacq 04 04 OBAD with Maneuver 30 30

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: Flash Report - The FGS-2R TRT Test was successfully executed on-orbit today from 14:12 - 18:24 The subsequent acquisitions were also successful

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