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============================================================================== TOPIC: Daily Report #5103
== 1 of 1 == Date: Tues, May 25 2010 8:21 am From: "Cooper, Joe"
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science
DAILY REPORT #5103
PERIOD COVERED: 5am May 24 - 5am May 25, 2010 (DOY 144/09:00z-145/09:00z)
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 07 07 FGS REAcq 09 09 OBAD with Maneuver 04 04
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)
OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED:
ACS/WFC 11591
Are Low-Luminosity Galaxies Responsible for Cosmic Reionization?
Our group has demonstrated that massive clusters, acting as powerful
cosmic lenses, can constrain the abundance and properties of
low-luminosity star-forming sources beyond z~6; such sources are
thought to be responsible for ending cosmic reionization
The large
magnification possible in the critical regions of well-constrained
clusters brings sources into view that lie at or beyond the limits of
conventional exposures such as the UDF
We have shown that the
combination of HST and Spitzer is particularly effective in delivering
the physical properties of these distant sources, constraining their
mass, age and past star formation history
Indirectly, we therefore
gain a valuable glimpse to yet earlier epochs
Recognizing the result
(and limitations) of blank field surveys, we propose a systematic
search through 10 lensing clusters with ACS/F814W and
WFC3/[F110W+F160W] (in conjunction with existing deep IRAC data)
Our
goal is to measure with great accuracy the luminosity function at z~7
over a range of at least 3 magnitude, based on the identification of
about 50 lensed galaxies at 6
5 ACS/WFC/WFC3/IR 11142 Revealing the Physical Nature of Infrared Luminous Galaxies at
0
3 We aim to determine physical properties of IR luminous galaxies at
0
3 ACS/WFC/WFC3/IR 11663 Formation and Evolution of Massive Galaxies in the Richest
Environments at 1
5 < z < 2
0 We propose to image seven 1
5 COS/FUV/COS/NUV 11741 Probing Warm-Hot Intergalactic Gas at 0
5 < z < 1
3 with a Blind
Survey for O VI, Ne VIII, Mg X, and Si XII Absorption Systems Currently we can only account for half of the baryons (or less)
expected to be found in the nearby universe based on D/H and CMB
observations
This "missing baryons problem" is one of the
highest-priority challenges in observational extragalatic astronomy
Cosmological simulations suggest that the baryons are hidden in
low-density, shock-heated intergalactic gas in the log T = 5 - 7
range, but intensive UV and X-ray surveys using O VI, O VII, and O
VIII absorption lines have not yet confirmed this prediction
We
propose to use COS to carry out a sensitive survey for Ne VIII and Mg
X absorption in the spectra of nine QSOs at z(QSO) > 0
89
For the
three highest-redshift QSOs, we will also search for Si XII
This
survey will provide more robust constraints on the quantity of baryons
in warm-hot intergalactic gas at 0
5 < z < 1
3, and the data will
provide rich constraints on the metal enrichment, physical conditions,
and nature of a wide variety of QSO absorbers in addition to the
warm-hot systems
By comparing the results to other surveys at lower
redshifts (with STIS, FUSE, and from the COS GTO programs), the
project will also enable the first study of how these absorbers evolve
with redshift at z < 1
By combining the program with follow-up galaxy
redshift surveys, we will also push the study of galaxy-absorber
relationships to higher redshifts, with an emphasis on the
distribution of the WHIM with respect to the large-scale matter
distribution of the universe
FGS 11789 An Astrometric Calibration of Population II Distance Indicators In 2002 HST produced a highly precise parallax for RR Lyrae
That
measurement resulted in an absolute magnitude, M(V)= 0
61+/-0
11, a
useful result, judged by the over ten refereed citations each year
since
It is, however, unsatisfactory to have the direct,
parallax-based, distance scale of Population II variables based on a
single star
We propose, therefore, to obtain the parallaxes of four
additional RR Lyrae stars and two Population II Cepheids, or W Vir
stars
The Population II Cepheids lie with the RR Lyrae stars on a
common K-band Period-Luminosity relation
Using these parallaxes to
inform that relationship, we anticipate a zero-point error of 0
04
magnitude
This result should greatly strengthen confidence in the
Population II distance scale and increase our understanding of RR
Lyrae star and Pop II Cepheid astrophysics
S/C/WFC3/IR 11929 IR Dark Current Monitor Analyses of ground test data showed that dark current signals are more
reliably removed from science data using darks taken with the same
exposure sequences as the science data, than with a single dark
current image scaled by desired exposure time
Therefore, dark current
images must be collected using all sample sequences that will be used
in science observations
These observations will be used to monitor
changes in the dark current of the WFC3-IR channel on a day-to-day
basis, and to build calibration dark current ramps for each of the
sample sequences to be used by GOs in Cycle 17
For each sample
sequence/array size combination, a median ramp will be created and
delivered to the calibration database system (CDBS)
STIS/CCD 11845 CCD Dark Monitor Part 2 Monitor the darks for the STIS CCD
STIS/CCD 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/MA1 12079 STIS PtCr/Ne Lamp Ratios We will provide improved information on the ratio of the STIS
wavelength calibration lamps at all wavelengths
The LINE & HITM1
lamps have faded by a factor of several since launch, and at the
shortest wavelengths the fading is enough to have significantly
impacted the S/N of the wavecals
The FUV flux of the HITM2 lamp has
not been checked since 1997, and so a detailed comparison of all three
lamps is needed to support a proper wavelength calibration for GO
proposals
WFC3/IR 11702 Search for Very High-z Galaxies with WFC3 Pure Parallel WFC3 will provide an unprecedented probe to the early universe beyond
the current redshift frontier
Here we propose a pure parallel program
using this new instrument to search for Lyman-break galaxies at
6
5 WFC3/UVI 11556 Investigations of the Pluto System We propose a set of high SNR observations of the Pluto system that
will provide improved lightcurves, orbits, and photometric properties
of Nix and Hydra
The key photometric result for Nix and Hydra will be
a vastly improved lightcurve shape and rotation period to test if the
objects are in synchronous rotation or not
A second goal of this
program will be to retrieve a new epoch of albedo map for the surface
of Pluto
These observations will also improve masses and in some case
densities for the bodies in the Pluto system
WFC3/UVI 11702 Search for Very High-z Galaxies with WFC3 Pure Parallel WFC3 will provide an unprecedented probe to the early universe beyond
the current redshift frontier
Here we propose a pure parallel program
using this new instrument to search for Lyman-break galaxies at
6
5 WFC3/UVI 11730 Continued Proper Motions of the Magellanic Clouds: Orbits, Internal
Kinematics, and Distance In Cycles 11 and 13 we obtained two epochs of ACS/HRC data for fields
in the Magellanic Clouds centered on background quasars
We used these
data to determine the proper motions of the LMC and SMC to better than
5% and 15% respectively
The results had a number of unexpected
implications for the Milky Way-LMC-SMC system and received
considerable attention in the literature and in the press
The implied
three-dimensional velocities are larger than previously believed and
close to the escape velocity in a standard 10^12 solar mass Milky Way
dark halo
Our orbit calculations suggest the Clouds may not be bound
to the Milky Way or may just be on their first passage, both of which
are unexpected in view of traditional interpretations of the
Magellanic Stream
Alternatively, the Milky Way dark halo may be a
factor two more massive than previously believed, which would be
surprising in view of other observational constraints
Also, the
relative velocity between the LMC and SMC was larger than expected,
leaving open the possibility that the Clouds may not be bound to each
other
To further verify and refine our results we requested an
additional epoch data in Cycle 16 which is being executed with
WFPC2/PC due to the failure of ACS
A detailed analysis of one LMC
field shows that the field proper motion using all three epochs of
data is consistent within 1-sigma with the two-epoch data, thus
verifying that there are no major systematic effects in our previous
measurements
The random errors, however, are only smaller by a factor
of 1
4 because of the relatively large errors in the WFPC2 data
A
prediction for a fourth epoch with measurement errors similar to
epochs 1 and 2 shows that the uncertainties will improve by a factor
of 3
This will allow us to better address whether the Clouds are
indeed bound to each other and to the Milky Way
It will also allow us
to constrain the internal motions of various populations within the
Clouds, and to determine a distance to the LMC using rotational
parallax
Continuation of this highly successful program is therefore
likely to provide important additional insights
Execution in SNAPshot
mode guarantees maximally efficient use of HST resources
WFC3/UVI 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 WFC3/UVI 11908 Cycle 17: UVIS Bowtie Monitor Ground testing revealed an intermittent hysteresis type effect in the
UVIS detector (both CCDs) at the level of ~1%, lasting hours to days
Initially found via an unexpected bowtie-shaped feature in flatfield
ratios, subsequent lab tests on similar e2v devices have since shown
that it is also present as simply an overall offset across the entire
CCD, i
e
, a QE offset without any discernable pattern
These lab
tests have further revealed that overexposing the detector to count
levels several times full well fills the traps and effectively
neutralizes the bowtie
Each visit in this proposal acquires a set of
three 3x3 binned internal flatfields: the first unsaturated image will
be used to detect any bowtie, the second, highly-exposed image will
neutralize the bowtie if it is present, and the final image will allow
for verification that the bowtie is gone
==============================================================================
TOPIC: Daily Report #5104 == 1 of 1 ==
Date: Wed, May 26 2010 5:24 am
From: "Cooper, Joe" HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science DAILY REPORT #5104 PERIOD COVERED: 5am May 25 - 5am May 26, 2010 (DOY 145/09:00z-146/09:00z) 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) FGS GSAcq 06 06
FGS REAcq 09 09
OBAD with Maneuver 05 05 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None) 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
COS/FUV 11895 FUV Detector Dark Monitor 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/FUV/COS/NUV 11579 The Difference Between Neutral- and Ionized-Gas Metal Abundances in
Local Star-Forming Galaxies with COS The metallicity of galaxies and its evolution with redshift is of
paramount importance for understanding galaxy formation
Abundances in
the interstellar medium (ISM) are typically determined using
emission-line spectroscopy of HII regions
However, since HII regions
are associated with recent SF they may not have abundances typical for
the galaxy as a whole
This is true in particular for star-forming
galaxies (SFGs), in which the bulk of the metals may be contained in
the neutral gas
It is therefore important to directly probe the metal
abundances in the neutral gas
This can be done using absorption lines
in the Far UV
We have developed techniques to do this in SFGs, where
the absorption is measured for sightlines toward bright SF regions
within the galaxy itself
We have successfully applied this technique
to a sample of galaxies observed with FUSE
The results have been very
promising, suggesting in I Zw 18 that abundances in the neutral gas
may be up to 0
5 dex lower than in the ionized gas
However, the
interpretation of the FUSE data is complicated by the very large FUSE
aperture (30 arcsec), the modest S/N, and the limited selection of
species available in the FUSE bandpass
The advent of COS on HST now
allows a significant advance in all of these areas
We will therefore
obtain absorption line spectroscopy with G130M in the same sample for
which we already have crude constraints from FUSE
We will obtain
ACS/SBC images to select the few optimal sightlines to target in each
galaxy
The results will be interpreted through line-profile fitting
to determine the metal abundances constrained by the available lines
The results will provide important new insights into the metallicities
of galaxies, and into outstanding problems at high redshift such as
the observed offset between the metallicities of Lyman Break Galaxies
and Damped Lyman Alpha systems
COS/FUV/COS/NUV 11601 UV spectroscopy of the hot bare stellar core H1504+65 H1504+65 is the hottest known white dwarf (Teff=200, 000 K)
It has an
extraordinary surface composition
The surface is devoid of hydrogen
and helium
It is mainly composed of carbon and oxygen (by equal
amounts) and neon (2%)
We obviously see the exposed core of a former
red giant
The evolutionary history of this unique object is unknown
We have identified magnesium absorption lines in the soft X-ray
photospheric Chandra spectrum, which suggests that H1504+65 may be an
O-Ne-Mg white dwarf
We will test this hypothesis by abundance
determinations of Mg and Na
If confirmed, then H1504+65 would be the
most compelling case for the existence of single O-Ne-Mg white dwarfs
COS/FUV/COS/NUV 11741 Probing Warm-Hot Intergalactic Gas at 0
5 < z < 1
3 with a Blind
Survey for O VI, Ne VIII, Mg X, and Si XII Absorption Systems Currently we can only account for half of the baryons (or less)
expected to be found in the nearby universe based on D/H and CMB
observations
This "missing baryons problem" is one of the
highest-priority challenges in observational extragalatic astronomy
Cosmological simulations suggest that the baryons are hidden in
low-density, shock-heated intergalactic gas in the log T = 5 - 7
range, but intensive UV and X-ray surveys using O VI, O VII, and O
VIII absorption lines have not yet confirmed this prediction
We
propose to use COS to carry out a sensitive survey for Ne VIII and Mg
X absorption in the spectra of nine QSOs at z(QSO) > 0
89
For the
three highest-redshift QSOs, we will also search for Si XII
This
survey will provide more robust constraints on the quantity of baryons
in warm-hot intergalactic gas at 0
5 < z < 1
3, and the data will
provide rich constraints on the metal enrichment, physical conditions,
and nature of a wide variety of QSO absorbers in addition to the
warm-hot systems
By comparing the results to other surveys at lower
redshifts (with STIS, FUSE, and from the COS GTO programs), the
project will also enable the first study of how these absorbers evolve
with redshift at z < 1
By combining the program with follow-up galaxy
redshift surveys, we will also push the study of galaxy-absorber
relationships to higher redshifts, with an emphasis on the
distribution of the WHIM with respect to the large-scale matter
distribution of the universe
COS/NUV 11520 COS-GTO: QSO Absorbers, Galaxies and Large-scale Structures in the
Local Universe
This is a program to probe the large scale structure of baryons in the
universe, including addressing questions of baryon fraction, physical
conditions and relationships between absorbers and large-scale
structures of galaxies
Besides these specific goals, this proposed
GTO program also probes a large enough total path length in Ly alpha
and OVI to add significantly to what STIS/FUSE has already observed
Several Galactic High Velocity Cloud Complexes also are probed by
these sightlines, particularly the M Complex
The total path length of
this proposed program for Ly alpha large-scale structure surveys is
delta_z~5
5
We have selected a variety of targets to address these questions,
under the following subcategories: Target 8 bright BL Lac objects to search for low contrast Ly alpha
absorbers from the warm-hot interstellar medium (WHIM)
Science
drivers: What are physical conditions and extent of warm-hot IGM in
the current epoch? Can we discover metal-poor WHIM using very broad Ly
alpha lines? What is the number density of such lines (dN/dz) and what
is their relationship if any with tentative Chandra detections of even
hotter gas? Ly alpha cloud sizes: The targets are a bright AGN pair which yield
tangential distance separations of 100--500 kpc at z=0
01--0
05, where
galaxy surveys are excellent
This pair has two filaments and two
voids in this distance range
Science drivers: What are the
characteristic sizes of Ly alpha absorbers, weak metal-line absorbers
and absorbers in voids? Better size determinations will tighten
current estimates of the baryon content of the photoionzed IGM
Probes of starburst outflows: The targets are bright AGN, <= 100
kpc in projection out of the minor axis of nearby starburst galaxies
Science drivers: Outflowing, unbound winds have been implicated as a
primary mechanism to enrich the IGM in mass, metals and energy
But do
starburst winds from massive galaxies escape the galaxy's
gravitational potential? If so, what is the metallicity and what are
mass outflow rates of these winds? A large galaxy's gaseous halo: Three probes of the kinematics and
metallicity of a single L* galaxy halo
These observations includes
G130M, G160M exposures at SNR~20 and G285M at 2850A and SNR~10 for
MgII
The 2L* galaxy, ESO 157-G049 (cz=1678 km/s), being probed by
these sightlines has an available H I 21cm map from ATCA, H alpha
imaging from CTIO and long-slit spectra from MSSSO
Science drivers:
What are the extent, metallicity, ionization conditions and kinematics
of gaseous halos of normal luminous (L*) galaxies? Is there evidence
for outflow, inflow or galactic fountain circulation of gas in massive
galaxy halos? What is the source of halo gas (outflowing winds,
infalling metal-poor gas from stripping of nearby dwarf galaxies,
nuclear outflows, large numbers of bound dark matter halos??) and what
is the relationship between this gas and Galactic high-velocity clouds
(HVCs)? Dwarf galaxy COS/NUV 11894 NUV Detector Dark Monitor 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
S/C/WFC3/IR 11929 IR Dark Current Monitor Analyses of ground test data showed that dark current signals are more
reliably removed from science data using darks taken with the same
exposure sequences as the science data, than with a single dark
current image scaled by desired exposure time
Therefore, dark current
images must be collected using all sample sequences that will be used
in science observations
These observations will be used to monitor
changes in the dark current of the WFC3-IR channel on a day-to-day
basis, and to build calibration dark current ramps for each of the
sample sequences to be used by GOs in Cycle 17
For each sample
sequence/array size combination, a median ramp will be created and
delivered to the calibration database system (CDBS)
STIS/CCD 11845 CCD Dark Monitor Part 2 Monitor the darks for the STIS CCD
STIS/CCD 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 11855 STIS/CCD Spectroscopic Sensitivity Monitor for Cycle 17 Monitor sensitivity of each CCD grating mode to detect any change due
to contamination or other causes
WFC3/IR 11702 Search for Very High-z Galaxies with WFC3 Pure Parallel WFC3 will provide an unprecedented probe to the early universe beyond
the current redshift frontier
Here we propose a pure parallel program
using this new instrument to search for Lyman-break galaxies at
6
5 WFC3/IR 11712 Calibration of Surface Brightness Fluctuations for WFC3/IR We aim to characterize galaxy surface brightness fluctuations (SBF),
and calibrate the SBF distance method, in the F110W and F160W filters
of the Wide Field Camera 3 IR channel
Because of the very high
throughput of F110W and the good match of F160W to the standard H
band, we anticipate that both of these filters will be popular choices
for galaxy observations with WFC3/IR
The SBF signal is typically an
order of magnitude brighter in the near-IR than in the optical, and
the characterisitics (sensitivity, FOV, cosmetics) of the WFC3/IR
channel will be enormously more efficient for SBF measurements than
previously available near-IR cameras
As a result, our proposed SBF
calibration will allow accurate distance derivation whenever an
early-type or bulge-dominated galaxy is observed out to a distance of
150 Mpc or more (i
e
, out to the Hubble flow) in the calibrated
passbands
For individual galaxy observations, an accurate distance is
useful for establishing absolute luminosities, black hole masses,
linear sizes, etc
Eventually, once a large number of galaxies have
been observed across the sky with WFC3/IR, this SBF calibration will
enable accurate mapping of the total mass density distribution in the
local universe using the data available in the HST archive
The
proposed observations will have additional important scientific value;
in particular, we highlight their usefulness for understanding the
nature of multimodal globular cluster color distributions in giant
elliptical galaxies
WFC3/UVI 11702 Search for Very High-z Galaxies with WFC3 Pure Parallel WFC3 will provide an unprecedented probe to the early universe beyond
the current redshift frontier
Here we propose a pure parallel program
using this new instrument to search for Lyman-break galaxies at
6
5 WFC3/UVI 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 WFC3/UVI 11909 UVIS Hot Pixel Anneal The on-orbit radiation environment of WFC3 will continually generate
new hot pixels
This proposal performs the procedure required for
repairing those hot pixels in the UVIS CCDs
During an anneal, the
two-stage thermo-electric cooler (TEC) is turned off and the
four-stage TEC is used as a heater to bring the UVIS CCDs up to ~20C
As a result of the CCD warmup, a majority of the hot pixels will be
fixed; previous instruments such as WFPC2 and ACS have seen repair
rates of about 80%
Internal UVIS exposures are taken before and after
each anneal, to allow an assessment of the procedure's effectiveness
in WFC3, provide a check of bias, global dark current, and hot pixel
levels, as well as support hysteresis (bowtie) monitoring and CDBS
reference file generation
One IR dark is taken after each anneal, to
provide a check of the IR detector
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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 (11909), will be used to generate the
necessary superbias
and superdark reference files for the
calibration pipeline (CDBS)
http://groups
google
com/group/sci
astro
hubble/t/6bd4a91181f09ac3?hl=en
SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL
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 (11909), will be used to generate the
necessary superbias
and superdark reference files for the
calibration pipeline (CDBS)
<mailto:[list_owner_email]>
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