Date: February 7th 2007

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT # 4294

PERIOD COVERED: UT February 06, 2007 (DOY 037)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

WFPC2 10860

The largest Kuiper belt object

The past year has seen an explosion in the discoveries of Pluto-sized objects in the Kuiper belt With the discoveries of the methane-covered 2003 UB313 and 2005 FY9, the multiple satellite system of 2003 EL61, and the Pluto-Charon analog system of Orcus and its satellite, it is finally apparent that Pluto is not a unique oddball at the edge of the solar system, but rather one of a family of similarly large objects in the Kuiper belt and beyond HST observations over the past decade have been critical for understanding the interior, surface, and atmosphere of Pluto and Charon We propose here a comprehensive series of observations designed to similarly expand our knowledge of these recently discovered Pluto-sized and near-Pluto-sized Kuiper belt objects These observations will measure objects' sizes and densities, explore the outcome of collisions in the outer solar system, and allow the first ever look at the interior structure of a Kuiper belt object Our wide field survey that discovered all of these objects is nearly finished, so after five years of continuous searching we are finally almost complete in our tally of these near-Pluto-sized objects This large HST request is the culmination of this half-decade search for new planetary-sized objects As has been demonstrated repeatedly by the approximately 100 previous orbits devoted to the study of Pluto, only HST has the resolution and sensitivity for detailed study of these distant objects

NIC2 10858

NICMOS Imaging of the z ~ 2 Spitzer Spectroscopic Sample of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies

We propose to obtain NICMOS images of the first large sample of high-z ultra-luminous infrared galaxies {ULIRGs} whose redshifts and physical states have been determined with Spitzer mid-IR spectra The detection of strong silicate absorption and/or PAH emission lines suggest that the these sources are a mixture of highly obscured starbursts, AGNs and composite systems at z=2 Although some of the spectra show PAH emission similar to local starburst ULIRGs, their bolometric luminosities are roughly an order of magnitude higher One important question is if major mergers, which are the trigger for 95% of local ULIRGs, also drive this enormous energy output observed in our z=2 sample The NICMOS images will allow us to {1} measure surface brightness profiles of z~2 ULIRGs and establish if major mergers could be common among our luminous sources at these early epochs, {2} determine if starbursts and AGNs classified based on their mid-IR spetra would have different morphological signatures, thus different dynamic state; {3} make comparisons with the similar studies of ULIRGs at z ~ 0 - 1, thus infer any evolutionary connections between high-z ULIRGs and the formation of normal, massive galaxies and quasars observed today

NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 8795

NICMOS Post-SAA calibration - CR Persistence Part 6

A new proceedure proposed to alleviate the CR-persistence problem of NICMOS Dark frames will be obtained immediately upon exiting the SAA contour 23, and everytime 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 i mages Each observation will need its own CRMAP, as different SAA passages leave different imprints on the NICMOS detectors

NIC3/NIC2/NIC1 11086

Mini-SMOV NICMOS dark current, shading profile, and read noise program

The purpose of this proposal is to study the dark current, read noise, and shading profile for all three NICMOS detectors after the NICMOS starts operating due to safing This proposal is a version of the NICMOS monitoring program

WFPC2 11090

Hubble Heritage Observations of PNe with WFPC2

This is a proposal for observation of a set of PNe using a common WFPC2 observation sequence

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: (None)

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

                      SCHEDULED      SUCCESSFUL

FGS GSacq 04 04 FGS REacq 10 10 OBAD with Maneuver 22 22

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)

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