HUBBLE
SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science
DAILY
REPORT #5106
PERIOD
COVERED: 5am May 27 - 5am May 28, 2010 (DOY 147/09:00z-148/09:00z)
FLIGHT
OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
Significant
Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports
of
potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.)
HSTARS:
FOR
DOY 137
12289
- GSAcq(2,1,2) at 137/17:14:52z failed to Fine Lock backup on FGS2
with scan step limit exceed on FGS1.
Observations possibly affected, WFC 34 Proposal ID# 11536
COMPLETED
OPS REQUEST: (None)
COMPLETED
OPS NOTES: (None)
SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL
FGS
GSAcq
08
08
FGS
REAcq
10
10
OBAD
with Maneuver 02
02
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/COS/NUV
11598
How
Galaxies Acquire their Gas: A Map of Multiphase Accretion and
Feedback
in Gaseous Galaxy Halos
We
propose to address two of the biggest open questions in galaxy
formation
- how galaxies acquire their gas and how they return it to the
IGM
- with a concentrated COS survey of diffuse multiphase gas in the
halos
of SDSS galaxies at z = 0.15 - 0.35. Our chief science goal is to
establish
a basic set of observational facts about the physical state,
metallicity,
and kinematics of halo gas, including the sky covering
fraction
of hot and cold material, the metallicity of infall and
outflow,
and correlations with galaxy stellar mass, type, and color -
all
as a function of impact parameter from 10 - 150 kpc. Theory suggests
that
the bimodality of galaxy colors, the shape of the luminosity
function,
and the mass-metallicity relation are all influenced at a
fundamental
level by accretion and feedback, yet these gas processes are
poorly
understood and cannot be predicted robustly from first
principles.
We lack even a basic observational assessment of the
multiphase
gaseous content of galaxy halos on 100 kpc scales, and we do
not
know how these processes vary with galaxy properties. This ignorance
is
presently one of the key impediments to understanding galaxy
formation
in general. We propose to use the high-resolution gratings
G130M
and G160M on the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph to obtain sensitive
column
density measurements of a comprehensive suite of multiphase ions
in
the spectra of 43 z < 1 QSOs lying behind 43 galaxies selected from
the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In aggregate, these sightlines will
constitute
a statistically sound map of the physical state and
metallicity
of gaseous halos, and subsets of the data with cuts on
galaxy
mass, color, and SFR will seek out predicted variations of gas
properties
with galaxy properties. Our interpretation of these data will
be
aided by state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulations of accretion and
feedback,
in turn providing information to refine and test such models.
We
will also use Keck, MMT, and Magellan (as needed) to obtain optical
spectra
of the QSOs to measure cold gas with Mg II, and optical spectra
of
the galaxies to measure SFRs and to look for outflows. In addition to
our
other science goals, these observations will help place the Milky
Way's
population of multiphase, accreting High Velocity Clouds (HVCs)
into
a global context by identifying analogous structures around other
galaxies.
Our program is designed to make optimal use of the unique
capabilities
of COS to address our science goals and also generate a
rich
dataset of other absorption-line systems along a significant total
pathlength
through the IGM (Delta z ~ 20).
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..
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/MA2
11857
STIS
Cycle 17 MAMA Dark Monitor
This
proposal monitors the behavior of the dark current in each of the
MAMA
detectors.
The
basic monitor takes two 1380s ACCUM darks each week with each
detector.
However, starting Oct 5, pairs are only included for weeks
that
the LRP has external MAMA observations planned. The weekly pairs of
exposures
for each detector are linked so that they are taken at
opposite
ends of the same SAA free interval. This pairing of exposures
will
make it easier to separate long and short term temporal variability
from
temperature dependent changes.
For
both detectors, additional blocks of exposures are taken once every
six
months. These are groups of five 1314 s FUV-MAMA TIME-TAG darks or
five
3x315 s NUV ACCUM darks distributed over a single SAA free
interval.
This will give more information on the brightness of the FUV
MAMA
dark current as a function of the amount of time that the HV has
been
on, and for the NUV MAMA will give a better measure of the short
term
temperature dependence.
WFC3/IR
11202
The
Structure of Early-type Galaxies: 0.1-100 Effective Radii
The
structure, formation and evolution of early-type galaxies is still
largely
an open problem in cosmology: how does the Universe evolve from
large
linear scales dominated by dark matter to the highly non-linear
scales
of galaxies, where baryons and dark matter both play important,
interacting,
roles? To understand the complex physical processes
involved
in their formation scenario, and why they have the tight
scaling
relations that we observe today (e.g. the Fundamental Plane), it
is
critically important not only to undertstand their stellar structure,
but
also their dark-matter distribution from the smallest to the largest
scales.
Over
the last three years the SLACS collaboration has developed a
toolbox
to tackle these issues in a unique and encompassing way by
combining
new non-parametric strong lensing techniques, stellar
dynamics,
and most recently weak gravitational lensing, with
high-quality
Hubble Space Telescope imaging and VLT/Keck spectroscopic
data
of early-type lens systems. This allows us to break degeneracies
that
are inherent to each of these techniques seperately and probe the
mass
structure of early-type galaxies from 0.1 to 100 effective radii.
The
large dynamic range to which lensing is sentive allows us both to
probe
the clumpy substructure of these galaxies, as well as their
low-density
outer haloes. These methods have convincingly been
demonstrated,
by our team, using smaller pilot-samples of SLACS lens
systems
with HST data.
In
this proposal, we request observing time with WFPC2 and NICMOS to
observe
53 strong lens systems from SLACS, to obtain complete
multi-color
imaging for each system. This would bring the total number
of
SLACS lens systems to 87 with completed HST imaging and effectively
doubles
the known number of galaxy-scale strong lenses. The deep HST
images
enable us to fully exploit our new techniques, beat down
low-number
statistics, and probe the structure and evolution of
early-type
galaxies, not only with a uniform data-set an order of
magnitude
larger than what is available now, but also with a fully
coherent
and self-consistent methodological approach!
WFC3/IR
11219
Active
Galactic Nuclei in nearby galaxies: a new view of the origin of
the
radio-loud radio-quiet dichotomy?
Using
archival HST and Chandra observations of 34 nearby early-type
galaxies
(drawn from a complete radio selected sample) we have found
evidence
that the radio-loud/radio-quiet dichotomy is directly connected
to
the structure of the inner regions of their host galaxies in the
following
sense: [1] Radio-loud AGN are associated with galaxies with
shallow
cores in their light profiles [2] Radio-quiet AGN are only
hosted
by galaxies with steep cusps. Since the brightness profile is
determined
by the galaxy's evolution, through its merger history, our
results
suggest that the same process sets the AGN flavour. This
provides
us with a novel tool to explore the co-evolution of galaxies
and
supermassive black holes, and it opens a new path to understand the
origin
of the radio-loud/radio-quiet AGN dichotomy. Currently our
analysis
is statistically incomplete as the brightness profile is not
available
for 82 of the 116 targets. Most galaxies were not observed
with
HST, while in some cases the study is obstructed by the presence of
dust
features. We here propose to perform an infrared NICMOS snapshot
survey
of these 82 galaxies. This will enable us to i) test the reality
of
the dichotomic behaviour in a substantially larger sample; ii) extend
the
comparison between radio-loud and radio-quiet AGN to a larger range
of
luminosities.
WFC3/IR
11696
Infrared
Survey of Star Formation Across Cosmic Time
We
propose to use the unique power of WFC3 slitless spectroscopy to
measure
the evolution of cosmic star formation from the end of the
reionization
epoch at z>6 to the close of the galaxy-building era at
z~0.3.Pure
parallel observations with the grisms have proven to be
efficient
for identifying line emission from galaxies across a broad
range
of redshifts. The G102 grism on WFC3 was designed to extend this
capability
to search for Ly-alpha emission from the first galaxies.
Using
up to 250 orbits of pure parallel WFC3 spectroscopy, we will
observe
about 40 deep (4-5 orbit) fields with the combination of G102
and
G141, and about 20 shallow (2-3 orbit) fields with G141 alone.
Our
primary science goals at the highest redshifts are: (1) Detect Lya
in
~100 galaxies with z>5.6 and measure the evolution of the Lya
luminosity
function, independent of of cosmic variance; 2) Determine the
connection
between emission-line selected and continuum-break selected
galaxies
at these high redshifts, and 3) Search for the proposed
signature
of neutral hydrogen absorption at re-ionization. At
intermediate
redshifts we will (4) Detect more than 1000 galaxies in
Halpha
at 0.5<z<1.8 to measure the evolution of the extinction-corrected
star
formation density across the peak epoch of star formation. This is
over
an order-of-magnitude improvement in the current statistics, from
the
NICMOS Parallel grism survey. (5) Trace ``cosmic downsizing" from
0.5<z<2.2;
and (6) Estimate the evolution in reddening and metallicty in
star-forming
galaxies and measure the evolution of the Seyfert
population.
For hundreds of spectra we will be able to measure one or
even
two line pair ratios -- in particular, the Balmer decrement and
[OII]/[OIII]
are sensitive to gas reddening and metallicity. As a bonus,
the
G102 grism offers the possiblity of detecting Lya emission at
z=7-8.8.
To
identify single-line Lya emitters, we will exploit the wide
0.8--1.9um
wavelength coverage of the combined G102+G141 spectra. All
[OII]
and [OIII] interlopers detected in G102 will be reliably separated
from
true LAEs by the detection of at least one strong line in the G141
spectrum,
without the need for any ancillary data. We waive all
proprietary
rights to our data and will make high-level data products
available
through the ST/ECF.
WFC3/IR
11700
Bright
Galaxies at z>7.5 with a WFC3 Pure Parallel Survey
The
epoch of reionization represents a special moment in the history of
the
Universe as it is during this era that the first galaxies and star
clusters
are formed. Reionization also profoundly affects the
environment
where subsequent generations of galaxies evolve. Our
overarching
goal is to test the hypothesis that galaxies are responsible
for
reionizing neutral hydrogen. To do so we propose to carry out a pure
parallel
WFC3 survey to constrain the bright end of the redshift z>7.5
galaxy
luminosity function on a total area of 176 arcmin^2 of sky.
Extrapolating
the evolution of the luminosity function from z~6, we
expect
to detect about 20 Lyman Break Galaxies brighter than M_* at z~8
significantly
improving the current sample of only a few galaxies known
at
these redshifts. Finding significantly fewer objects than predicted
on
the basis of extrapolation from z=6 would set strong limits to the
brightness
of M_*, highlighting a fast evolution of the luminosity
function
with the possible implication that galaxies alone cannot
reionize
the Universe. Our observations will find the best candidates
for
spectroscopic confirmation, that is bright z>7.5 objects, which
would
be missed by small area deeper surveys. The random pointing nature
of
the program is ideal to beat cosmic variance, especially severe for
luminous
massive galaxies, which are strongly clustered. In fact our
survey
geometry of 38 independent fields will constrain the luminosity
function
like a contiguous single field survey with two times more area
at
the same depth. Lyman Break Galaxies at z>7.5 down to m_AB=26.85 (5
sigma)
in F125W will be selected as F098M dropouts, using three to five
orbits
visits that include a total of four filters (F606W, F098M, F125W,
F160W)
optimized to remove low-redshift interlopers and cool stars. Our
data
will be highly complementary to a deep field search for high-z
galaxies
aimed at probing the faint end of the luminosity function,
allowing
us to disentangle the degeneracy between faint end slope and
M_*
in a Schechter function fit of the luminosity function. We waive
proprietary
rights for the data. In addition, we commit to release the
coordinates
and properties of our z>7.5 candidates within one month from
the
acquisition of each field.
WFC3/IR
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.
WFC3/UVI
11903
UVIS
Photometric Zero Points
This
proposal obtains the photometric zero points in 53 of the 62
UVIS/WFC3
filters: the 18 broad-band filters, 8 medium-band filters, 16
narrow-band
filters, and 11 of the 20 quad filters (those being used in
cycle
17). The observations will be primary obtained by observing the
hot
DA white dwarf standards GD153 and G191-B2B. A redder secondary
standard,
P330E, will be observed in a subset of the filters to provide
color
corrections. Repeat observations in 16 of the most widely used
cycle
17 filters will be obtained once per month for the first three
months,
and then once every second month for the duration of cycle 17,
alternating
and depending on target availability. These observations
will
enable monitoring of the stability of the photometric system.
Photometric
transformation equations will be calculated by comparing the
photometry
of stars in two globular clusters, 47 Tuc and NGC 2419, to
previous
measurements with other telescopes/instruments.
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<BR>and dark frames. A smaller set of 2Kx4K
subarray
biases are acquired at less frequent intervals<BR>throughout
the
cycle to support subarray science observations. The internals from
this
proposal,<BR>along with those from the anneal procedure (11909),
will
be used to generate the necessary superbias<BR>and superdark
reference
files for the calibration pipeline (CDBS).
WFC3/UVI
11907
UVIS
Cycle 17 Contamination Monitor
The
UV throughput of WFC3 during Cycle 17 is monitored via weekly
standard
star observations in a subset of key filters covering 200-600nm
and
F606W, F814W as controls on the red end. The data will provide a
measure
of throughput levels as a function of time and wavelength,
allowing
for detection of the presence of possible contaminants.
WFC3/UV/COS/FUV/WFC
11536
COS-GTO:
Sleuthing the Source of Distant Cometary Activity
Distant
comets and Centaurs often show cometary activity and outbursts
well
beyond 3 AU, the boundary of the sublimation zone of water.
Super-volatiles
(most likely CO, but possibly CH4, N2, or S2) are
suspected
to be responsible, but have never been detected in distant
comets
in the UV. We will obtain FUV spectra of active bodies to cover
important
CO emission bands. We plan two sets of observations: comet
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann
at 6 AU, whose outbursts are too short to
capture
as a Target of Opportunity, but which also shows persistent
cometary
activity in quiescence; and Target of Opportunity observations
of
the Centaur 2060 Chiron (at ~15.5 AU) in outburst.