HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class
Science
DAILY REPORT # 4308
PERIOD COVERED: UT February 27, 2007 (DOY 058)
OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED
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}.
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 11080
Exploring the Scaling Laws of Star Formation
As a variety of surveys of the local and distant Universe
are
approaching a full census of galaxy populations, our
attention needs to
turn towards understanding and quantifying the physical
mechanisms that
trigger and regulate the large-scale star formation rates
{SFRs} in
galaxies.
NIC3 11082
NICMOS Imaging of GOODS: Probing the Evolution of the
Earliest Massive
Galaxies, Galaxies Beyond
Deep near-infrared imaging provides the only avenue
towards
understanding a host of astrophysical problems, including:
finding
galaxies and AGN at z > 7, the evolution of the most
massive galaxies,
the triggering of star formation in dusty galaxies, and
revealing
properties of obscured AGN. As such, we propose to observe
60 selected
areas of the GOODS North and South fields with NICMOS
Camera 3 in the
F160W band pointed at known massive M > 10^11 M_0
galaxies at z > 2
discovered through deep Spitzer imaging. The depth we will
reach {26.5
AB at 5 sigma} in H_160 allows us to study the internal
properties of
these galaxies, including their sizes and morphologies,
and to
understand how scaling relations such as the Kormendy
relationship
evolved. Although NIC3 is out of focus and undersampled,
it is currently
our best opportunity to study these galaxies, while also
sampling enough
area to perform a general NIR survey 1/3 the size of an
ACS GOODS field.
These data will be a significant resource, invaluable for
many other
science goals, including discovering high redshift
galaxies at z > 7,
the evolution of galaxies onto the Hubble sequence, as
well as examining
obscured AGN and dusty star formation at z > 1.5. The
GOODS fields are
the natural location for HST to perform a deep NICMOS
imaging program,
as extensive data from space and ground based
observatories such as
Chandra, GALEX, Spitzer, NOAO, Keck, Subaru, VLT, JCMT,
and the VLA are
currently available for these regions. Deep
high-resolution
near-infrared observations are the one missing ingredient
to this
survey, filling in an important gap to create the deepest,
largest, and
most uniform data set for studying the faint and distant
universe. The
importance of these images will increase with time as new
facilities
come on line, most notably WFC3 and ALMA, and for the
planning of future
JWST observations.
WFPC2 10871
Observations of the Galilean Satellites in Support of the
New Horizons
Flyby
On February 28 2007 the New Horizons {NH} spacecraft will
fly by Jupiter
on its way to Pluto, and will conduct an extensive series
of
observations of the Jupiter system, including the Galilean
satellites.
We propose HST observations to support and complement the
New Horizons
observations in four ways: 1} Determine the distribution
and variability
of Io's plumes in the two weeks before NH closest
approach, to look for
correlations with Io- derived dust streams that may be
detected by New
Horizons, to understand the origin of the dust streams; 2}
Imaging of
SO2 and S2 gas absorption in Io's plumes in Jupiter
transit, which
cannot be done by NH; 3} Color imaging of Io's surface to
determine the
effects of the plumes and volcanos seen by New Horizons on
the surface-
New Horizons cannot image the sunlit surface in color due
to saturation;
4} Imaging of far-UV auroral emissions from the
atmospheres of Io,
Europa, and Ganymede in Jupiter eclipse, near-
simultaneously with
disk-integrated NH UV spectra, to locate the source of the
UV emissions
seen by NH and use the response of the satellite
atmospheres to the
eclipse to constrain production mechanisms.
WFPC2 11096
Hubble Heritage imaging of Jupiter during the New Horizons
encounter HST
Proposal 11096
WFPC2 images of Jupiter in Feb 2007 in support of New
Horizons flyby of
Jupiter. This Hubble Heritage DD program is working in
concert with the
existing GO programs by John Clarke {10862} and John
Spencer {10871}.
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:
18022-2 - Re-Enable Aero Torque Compensation
17966-0 - Monitor FHST Sanity Check via TMDIAG Slots 0 -2
COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)
SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL
FGS GSacq 09 09
FGS REacq 05 05
OBAD with Maneuver 28 28
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:
Execution of Ops Request 18022-2 was completed at
058/22:37, re-enabling
the aerodynamic torque compensation. Vehicle pointing
control
performance was nominal, and the guide star acquisition at
058/23:25
succeeded normally.