HUBBLE
SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science
DAILY
REPORT #5068
PERIOD
COVERED: 5am April 5 - 5am April 6, 2010 (DOY 095/09:00z-096/09:00z)
OBSERVATIONS
SCHEDULED
ACS/WFC
11995
CCD
Daily Monitor (Part 2)
This
program comprises basic tests for measuring the read noise and dark
current
of the ACS WFC and for tracking the growth of hot pixels. The
recorded
frames are used to create bias and dark reference images for
science
data reduction and calibration. This program will be executed
four
days per week (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) for the duration of Cycle 17. To
facilitate
scheduling, this program is split into three proposals. This
proposal
covers 320 orbits (20 weeks) from 1 February 2010 to 20 June
2010.
ACS/WFC3
11599
Distances
of Planetary Nebulae from SNAPshots of Resolved Companions
Reliable
distances to individual planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Milky
Way
are needed to advance our understanding of their spatial
distribution,
birthrates, influence on galactic chemistry, and the
luminosities
and evolutionary states of their central stars (CSPN). Few
PNe
have good distances, however. One of the best ways to remedy this
problem
is to find resolved physical companions to the CSPN and measure
their
distances by photometric main-sequence fitting. We have previously
used
HST to identify and measure probable companions to 10 CSPN, based
on
angular separations and statistical arguments only. We now propose to
use
HST to re-observe 48 PNe from that program for which additional
companions
are possibly present. We then can use the added criterion of
common
proper motion to confirm our original candidate companions and
identify
new ones in cases that could not confidently be studied before.
We
will image the region around each CSPN in the V and I bands, and in
some
cases in the B band. Field stars that appear close to the CSPN by
chance
will be revealed by their relative proper motion during the 13+
years
since our original survey, leaving only genuine physical
companions
in our improved and enlarged sample. This study will increase
the
number of Galactic PNe with reliable distances by 50 percent and
improve
the distances to PNe with previously known companions.
COS/FUV
11895
FUV
Detector Dark Monitor
The
purpose of this proposal is to monitor the FUV detector dark rate by
taking
long science exposures without illuminating the detector. The
detector
dark rate and spatial distribution of counts will be compared
to
pre-launch and SMOV data in order to verify the nominal operation of
the
detector. Variations of count rate as a function of orbital position
will
be analyzed to find dependence of dark rate on proximity to the
SAA.
Dependence of dark rate as function of time will also be tracked.
COS/NUV
11894
NUV
Detector Dark Monitor
The
purpose of this proposal is to measure the NUV detector dark rate by
taking
long science exposures with no light on the detector. The
detector
dark rate and spatial distribution of counts will be compared
to
pre-launch and SMOV data in order to verify the nominal operation of
the
detector. Variations of count rate as a function of orbital position
will
be analyzed to find dependence of dark rate on proximity to the
SAA.
Dependence of dark rate as function of time will also be tracked.
COS/NUV
11896
NUV
Spectroscopic Sensitivity Monitoring
The
purpose of this proposal is to monitor sensitivity of each NUV
grating
mode to detect any changes due to contamination or other causes.
S/C
12046
COS
FUV DCE Memory Dump
Whenever
the FUV detector high voltage is on, count rate and current
draw
information is collected, monitored, and saved to DCE memory. Every
10
msec the detector samples the currents from the HV power supplies
(HVIA,
HVIB) and the AUX power supply (AUXI). The last 1000 samples are
saved
in memory, along with a histogram of the number of occurrences of
each
current value.
In
the case of a HV transient (known as a "crackle" on FUSE), where one
of
these currents exceeds a preset threshold for a persistence time, the
HV
will shut down, and the DCE memory will be dumped and examined as
part
of the recovery procedure. However, if the current exceeds the
threshold
for less than the persistence time (a "mini-crackle" in FUSE
parlance),
there is no way to know without dumping DCE memory. By
dumping
and examining the histograms regularly, we will be able to
monitor
any changes in the rate of "mini-crackles" and thus learn
something
about the state of the detector.
STIS/CC
11845
CCD
Dark Monitor Part 2
Monitor
the darks for the STIS CCD.
STIS/CC
11847
CCD
Bias Monitor-Part 2
Monitor
the bias in the 1x1, 1x2, 2x1, and 2x2 bin settings at gain=1,
and
1x1 at gain = 4, to build up high-S/N superbiases and track the
evolution
of hot columns.
STIS/CCD
11852
STIS
CCD Spectroscopic Flats C17
The
purpose of this proposal is to obtain pixel-to-pixel lamp flat
fields
for the STIS CCD in spectroscopic mode.
STIS/CCD
11853
Cycle
17 STIS CCD Imaging Flats
This
program periodically monitors the STIS CCD imaging mode flat fields
by
using the tungsten lamps.
STIS/CCD/MA2
11568
A
SNAPSHOT Survey of the Local Interstellar Medium: New NUV Observations
of
Stars with Archived FUV Observations
We
propose to obtain high-resolution STIS E230H SNAP observations of
MgII
and FeII interstellar absorption lines toward stars within 100
parsecs
that already have moderate or high-resolution far-UV (FUV),
900-1700
A, observations available in the MAST Archive. Fundamental
properties,
such as temperature, turbulence, ionization, abundances, and
depletions
of gas in the local interstellar medium (LISM) can be
measured
by coupling such observations. Due to the wide spectral range
of
STIS, observations to study nearby stars also contain important data
about
the LISM embedded within their spectra. However, unlocking this
information
from the intrinsically broad and often saturated FUV
absorption
lines of low-mass ions, (DI, CII, NI, OI), requires first
understanding
the kinematic structure of the gas along the line of
sight.
This can be achieved with high resolution spectra of high-mass
ions,
(FeII, MgII), which have narrow absorption lines, and can resolve
each
individual velocity component (interstellar cloud). By obtaining
short
(~10 minute) E230H observations of FeII and MgII, for stars that
already
have moderate or high- resolution FUV spectra, we can increase
the
sample of LISM measurements, and thereby expand our knowledge of the
physical
properties of the gas in our galactic neighborhood. STIS is the
only
instrument capable of obtaining the required high resolution data
now
or in the foreseeable future.
WFC3/UV
11635
Improve
the Measurement of Vesta's Pole Orientation to Support Dawn
Mission
NASA?s
Dawn spacecraft is scheduled to go into orbit around the main
belt
asteroid 4 Vesta in July 2011. Currently the project is using a 3-?
pole
position uncertainty of Vesta of 12? for spacecraft trajectory
design.
We have determined that with an additional set of Hubble
observations
at Vesta?s next opposition in February 2010, that the pole
position
uncertainty can be reduced by a factor of 4. This will reduce
both
cost and risk to the Dawn mission, and is likely to increase the
stay
time at Vesta and will add to the scientific return of the mission.
The
requested observing window in February 2010 is the last and single
best
opportunity that can benefit the Dawn mission, but it is before the
start
of the next HST Cycle.
WFC3/UVIS
11905
WFC3
UVIS CCD Daily Monitor
The
behavior of the WFC3 UVIS CCD will be monitored daily with a set of
full-frame,
four-amp bias and dark frames. A smaller set of 2Kx4K
subarray
biases are acquired at less frequent intervals throughout the
cycle
to support subarray science observations. The internals from this
proposal,
along with those from the anneal procedure (Proposal 11909),
will
be used to generate the necessary superbias and superdark reference
files
for the calibration pipeline (CDBS).
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
9
9
FGS
REAcq
5
5
OBAD
with Maneuver 4
4
SIGNIFICANT
EVENTS: (None)