Date: June 9th 2010

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Today's topics:

Daily Report #5109 - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/c05e0f6409628b0a?hl=en
Daily Report #5110 - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/47d79626c8ed3012?hl=en
Daily Report #5111 - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/b1ef26209515b1ca?hl=en
Daily Report #5112 - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/269f0c0ae8d71cfd?hl=en

============================================================================== TOPIC: Daily Report #5109

http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/c05e0f6409628b0a?hl=en

== 1 of 1 == Date: Thurs, Jun 3 2010 5:04Ã‚Â am From: "Bassford, Lynn"

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #5109

PERIOD COVERED: 5am June 2 - 5am June 3, 2010 (DOY 153/09:00z-154/09:00z)

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 7 7 FGS REAcq 9 9 OBAD with Maneuver 6 6

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 11686

The Cosmological Impact of AGN Outflows: Measuring Absolute Abundances and Kinetic Luminosities

AGN outflows are increasingly invoked as a major contributor to the formation and evolution of supermassive black holes, their host galaxies, the surrounding IGM, and cluster cooling flows Our HST/COS proposal will determine reliable absolute chemical abundances in six AGN outflows, which influences several of the processes mentioned above To date there is only one such determination, done by our team on Mrk 279 using 16 HST/STIS orbits and 100 ksec of FUSE time The advent of COS and its high sensitivity allows us to choose among fainter objects at redshifts high enough to preclude the need for FUSE This will allow us to determine the absolute abundances for six AGN (all fainter than Mrk 279) using only 40 HST COS orbits This will put abundances studies in AGN on a firm footing, an elusive goal for the past four decades In addition, prior FUSE observations of four of these targets indicate that it is probable that the COS observations will detect troughs from excited levels of C III These will allow us to measure the distances of the outflows and thereby determine their kinetic luminosity, a major goal in AGN feedback research

We will use our state of the art column density extraction methods and velocity-dependent photoionization models to determine the abundances and kinetic luminosity Previous AGN outflow projects suffered from the constraints of deciding what science we could do using ONE of the handful of bright targets that were observable With COS we can choose the best sample for our experiment As an added bonus, most of the spectral range of our targets has not been observed previously, greatly increasing the discovery phase space

COS/FUV/WFC3/UVIS/IR 11519

COS-GTO: Great Wall Tomography

This is a program to observe several targets behind the Great Wall (GW), a typical galaxy filament in the Universe The approach is to observe a series of targets in one area of sky to perform a "cosmic tomography" in a 10 Mpc^2 region which includes sightlines through regions of varying galaxy density from no galaxies within 3 Mpc of the sight line to a dozen or more galaxies within 3 Mpc of the sight line The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) plus various CfA redshift surveys are nearly complete at Great Wall distances to 0 1-0 25L*, making the available galaxy survey material sufficient for this study This program will address several science drivers, including probing the typical covering factor of warm, photoionized gas in galaxy filaments and the metallicity of such gas and how far it is spread from large and small galaxies Preliminary studies suggest such material extends ~800 kpc from the nearest L* galaxy (even if that galaxy is not the source of the gas) and ~250 kpc from the nearest 0 1L* galaxy (H0 assumed to be 70 km/s/Mpc)

COS/NUV/FUV 11718

The Stellar Halos of Dwarf Galaxies

The metal-poor stellar halo is the oldest extended structure in the Galaxy Such halos are thought to form through hierarchical merging, and contain stars pulled from accreted subhalos The diffuse stellar halo therefore stores information about the prop reties of the accreted galaxies (i e , their orbits, stellar masses, and metallicities) It is therefore unsurprising that stellar halos have become a popular probe of the early epoch of galaxy formation

Almost all current work on stellar halos has focused on massive galaxies, however We propose to extend the work on stellar halos to much lower mass scales, by studying the halos of faint dwarf galaxies By taking halo studies into the dwarf galaxy regime, we can probe exceptionally small mass scales for the accreted halos At these mass scales the effects of reionization and supernova feedback have the largest impact on the galaxy population Stellar halos of dwarf galaxies are therefore a sensitive probe of the key processes needed to resolve the lack of substructure observed at low masses

We are requesting two far-field ACS pointings for the three closest isolated nearby dwarf irregular galaxies whose inner halos have already been mapped with the ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury These outer fields will allow us to trace the halo out to roughly half the virial radius, further than any previous study We will use the resulting distribution of halo stars (1) to unambiguously measure the structure of the stellar halo, with minimal contamination from the main galaxy; (2) to constrain the flattening of the stellar halo; (3) to measure the metallicity of halo stars as a function of radius; (4) to correlate any changes in halo profile with changes in metallicity The resulting data will constrain models of halo accretion and the epoch of reionization

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

WFC3/ACS/UVIS 11613

GHOSTS: Stellar Outskirts of Massive Spiral Galaxies

We propose to continue our highly successful GHOSTS HST survey of the resolved stellar populations of nearby, massive disk galaxies using SNAPs These observations provide star counts and color-magnitude diagrams 2-3 magnitudes below the tip of the Red Giant Branch of the outer disk and halo of each galaxy We will measure the metallicity distribution functions and stellar density profiles from star counts down to very low average surface brightnesses, equivalent to ~32 V-mag per square arcsec

This proposal will substantially improve our unique sampling of galaxy outskirts Our targets cover a range in galaxy mass, luminosity, inclination, and morphology As a function of these galaxy properties, this survey provides: - the most extensive, systematic measurement of radial light profiles and axial ratios of the diffuse stellar halos and outer disks of spiral galaxies; - a comprehensive analysis of halo metallicity distributions as function of galaxy type and position within the galaxy; - an unprecedented study of the stellar metallicity and age distribution in the outer disk regions where the disk truncations occur; - the first comparative study of globular clusters and their field stellar populations

We will use these fossil records of the galaxy assembly process to test halo formation models within the hierarchical galaxy formation scheme

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)

WFC3/UVIS 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 #5110

http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/47d79626c8ed3012?hl=en

== 1 of 1 == Date: Fri, Jun 4 2010 5:53Ã‚Â am From: "Cooper, Joe"

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #5110

PERIOD COVERED: 5am June 3 - 5am June 4, 2010 (DOY 154/09:00z-155/09:00z)

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 9 9 FGS REAcq 10 10 OBAD with Maneuver 8 8

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED:

ACS/WFC 12016

The Stars and Edge-on Disks of PDS 144: An Intermediate-Mass Analog of Wide T Tauri Multiple Stars

High-Inclination PMS stars are optimally oriented to measure disk size, height, to detect jets, and to directly probe disk composition Placing these data into evolutionary context requires dates for the systems and measurements of L bol, and extinction For such stars, X-ray data provide L x, but also N(H) and the total extinction FUV data measures L UV, and constrains the shape of the extinction curve Recent studies have suggested that the frequency of Jovian-mass planets is higher for systems with intermediate-mass stars, due to disk mass or composition While suitable low mass YSOs are well-represented in the Chandra and HST archives, similar data are lacking for higher mass systems We propose joint Chandra and HST imaging of PDS 144 to fill this gap

FGS 11704

The Ages of Globular Clusters and the Population II Distance Scale

Globular clusters are the oldest objects in the universe whose age can be accurately determined The dominant error in globular cluster age determinations is the uncertain Population II distance scale We propose to use FGS 1R to obtain parallaxes with an accuracy of 0 2 milliarcsecond for 9 main sequence stars with [Fe/H] < -1 5 This will determine the absolute magnitude of these stars with accuracies of 0 04 to 0 06mag This data will be used to determine the distance to 24 metal-poor globular clusters using main sequence fitting These distances (with errors of 0 05 mag) will be used to determine the ages of globular clusters using the luminosity of the subgiant branch as an age indicator This will yield absolute ages with an accuracy of 5%, about a factor of two improvement over current estimates Coupled with existing parallaxes for more metal-rich stars, we will be able to accurately determine the age for globular clusters over a wide range of metallicities in order to study the early formation history of the Milky Way and provide an independent estimate of the age of the universe

The Hipparcos database contains only 1 star with [Fe/H] < -1 4 and an absolute magnitude error less than 0 18 mag which is suitable for use in main sequence fitting Previous attempts at main sequence fitting to metal-poor globular clusters have had to rely on theoretical calibrations of the color of the main sequence Our HST parallax program will remove this source of possible systematic error and yield distances to metal-poor globular clusters which are significantly more accurate than possible with the current parallax data The HST parallax data will have errors which are 10 times smaller than the current parallax data Using the HST parallaxes, we will obtain main sequence fitting distances to 11 globular clusters which contain over 500 RR Lyrae stars This will allow us to calibrate the absolute magnitude of RR Lyrae stars, a commonly used Population II distance indicator

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

WFC3/ACS/UVIS 11613

GHOSTS: Stellar Outskirts of Massive Spiral Galaxies

We will use these fossil records of the galaxy assembly process to test halo formation models within the hierarchical galaxy formation scheme

WFC3/ACS/UVIS/IR 11570

Narrowing in on the Hubble Constant and Dark Energy

A measurement of the Hubble constant to a precision of a few percent would be a powerful aid to the investigation of the nature of dark energy and a potent "end-to end" test of the present cosmological model In Cycle 15 we constructed a new streamlined distance ladder utilizing high- quality type Ia supernova data and observations of Cepheids with HST in the near-IR to minimize the dominant sources of systematic uncertainty in past measurements of the Hubble constant and reduce its total uncertainty to a little under 5% Here we propose to exploit this new route to reduce the remaining uncertainty by more than 30%, translating into an equal reduction in the uncertainty of the equation of state of dark energy We propose three sets of observations to reach this goal: a mosaic of NGC 4258 with WFC3 in F160W to triple its sample of long period Cepheids, WFC3/F160W observations of the 6 ideal SN Ia hosts to triple their samples of Cepheids, and observations of NGC 5584 the host of a new SN Ia, SN 2007af, to discover and measure its Cepheids and begin expanding the small set of SN Ia luminosity calibrations These observations would provide the bulk of a coordinated program aimed at making the measurement of the Hubble constant one of the leading constraints on dark energy

WFC3/IR 11631

Binary Brown Dwarfs and the L/T Transition

Brown dwarfs traverse spectral types M, L and T as their atmospheric structure evolves and they cool into oblivion This SNAPSHOT program will obtain WFC3-IR images of 45 nearby late-L and early-T dwarfs to investigate the nature of the L/T transition Recent analyses have suggested that a substantial proportion of late-L and early-T dwarfs are binaries, comprised of an L dwarf primary and T dwarf secondary WFC3-IR observations will let us quantify this suggestion by expanding coverage to a much larger sample, and permitting comparison of the L/T binary fraction against ?normal? ultracool dwarfs Only eight L/T binaries are currently known, including several that are poorly resolved: we anticipate at least doubling the number of resolved systems The photometric characteristics of additional resolved systems will be crucial to constraining theoretical models of these late-type ultracool dwarfs Finally, our data will also be eminently suited to searching for extremely low luminosity companions, potentially even reaching the Y dwarf regime

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 characteristics (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/IR/S/C 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)

WFC3/UV/IR 11573

Investigating Post-Equinox Atmospheric Changes on Uranus

Uranus is now past its 7 December 2007 equinox The large seasonal phase shift expected from its long radiative time constant implies that it should now be in the process of reversing its hemispheric asymmetries in cloud band structure and zonal circulation Many changes already observed -- the development of the first visible-wavelength dark spot, discovered in Cycle 15, the fading of the south polar cap, and the development of a new northern bright band while the southern band fades -- may all be indicative of the expected reversal We propose a detailed characterization of Uranus' current seasonal response with a 9-orbit program consisting of 3 orbits of WFC3 imaging of cloud bands and dark spots, and 6 orbits of high signal-to-noise imaging using the F845M filter, capable of tracking bright discrete cloud features Filters between 0 467 and 1 7 microns will provide vertical sensing depths scanning through the pressure range where the putative methane and deeper H2S clouds might plausibly exist and provide strong constraints on their contributions and parent gas mixing ratios These observations have unique combinations of spectral range and resolution with needed temporal sampling and spatial resolution not available from groundbased observations

WFC3/UVIS 11643

A Timeline for Early-Type Galaxy Formation: Mapping the Evolution of Star Formation, Globular Clusters, Dust, and Black Holes

While considerable effort has been devoted to statistical studies of the origin of the red sequence of galaxies, there has been relatively little direct exploration of galaxies transforming from late to early types Such galaxies are identified by their post-starburst spectra, bulge- dominated, tidally-disturbed morphologies, and current lack of gas We are constructing the first detailed timeline of their evolution onto the red sequence, pinpointing when star formation ends, nuclear activity ceases, globular clusters form, and the bulk of the merging progenitors' dust disappears Here we propose to obtain HST and Chandra imaging of nine galaxies, whose wide range of post-starburst ages we have precisely dated with a new UV-optical technique and for which we were awarded Spitzer time We will address 1) whether the black hole-bulge mass relation arises from nuclear feedback, 2) whether the bimodality of globular cluster colors is due to young clusters produced in galaxy mergers, and 3) what happens to the dust when late types merge to form an early type

WFC3/UVIS 11905

WFC3 UVIS CCD Daily Monitor

WFC3/UVIS 11908

Cycle 17: UVIS Bowtie Monitor

WFC3/UVIS 11912

UVIS Internal Flats

This proposal will be used to assess the stability of the flat field structure for the UVIS detector throughout the 15 months of Cycle 17 The data will be used to generate on-orbit updates for the delta-flat field reference files used in the WFC3 calibration pipeline, if significant changes in the flat structure are seen

============================================================================== TOPIC: Daily Report #5111

http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/b1ef26209515b1ca?hl=en

== 1 of 1 == Date: Mon, Jun 7 2010 4:42Ã‚Â am From: "Cooper, Joe"

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #5111

PERIOD COVERED: 5am June 4 - 5am June 7, 2010 (DOY 155/09:00z-158/09:00z)

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated )

HSTARS:

12294 - GSAcq(2,1,1) scheduled at 156/15:48:00z and REAcq(2,1,1) scheduled at 156/17:25:05z and at 156/19:00:56z was observed to have resulted in fine lock backup (2,0,2) using FGS-2

Observations possibly affected: COS 198 - 213, Proposal ID#11536

12295 - GSAcq(2,1,1) scheduled at 157/03:37:28z failed to fine lock backup on FGS 2

Observations possibly affected: WFC3 147 - 149, Proposal ID#11662

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

                 SCHEDULED  SUCCESSFUL

FGS GSAcq 26 26 FGS REAcq 21 21 OBAD with Maneuver 24 24

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED:

WFC3/UVIS 12018

Ultra-Luminous X-Ray Sources in the Most Metal-Poor Galaxies

There is growing observational and theoretical evidence to suggest that Ultra-Luminous X-ray sources (ULX) form preferentially in low metallicity environments Here we propose a survey of 27 nearby (< 30Mpc) star-forming Extremely Metal Poor Galaxies (Z<5% solar) There are almost no X-ray observations of such low abundance galaxies (3 in the Chandra archive) These are the most metal-deficient galaxies known, and a logical place to find ULX if they favor metal-poor systems We plan to test recent population synthesis models which predict that ULX should be very numerous in metal-poor galaxies We will also test the hypothesis that ULX form in massive young star clusters, and ask for HST time to obtain the necessary imaging data

ACS/WFC 12016

The Stars and Edge-on Disks of PDS 144: An Intermediate-Mass Analog of Wide T Tauri Multiple Stars

ACS/WFC 11995

CCD Daily Monitor (Part 2)

WFC3/IR/S/C 11929

IR Dark Current Monitor

WFC3/IR 11926

IR Zero Points

We will measure and monitor the zeropoints through the IR filters using observations of the white dwarf standard stars, GD153, GD71 and GD191B2B and the solar analog standard star, P330E Data will be taken monthly during Cycle 17 Observations of the star cluster, NGC 104, are made twice to check color transformations We expect an accuracy of 2% in the wide filter zeropoints relative to the HST photometric system, and 5% in the medium- and narrow-band filters

WFC3/UVIS 11912

UVIS Internal Flats

WFC3/UVIS 11908

Cycle 17: UVIS Bowtie Monitor

WFC3/UVIS 11905

WFC3 UVIS CCD Daily Monitor

COS/FUV 11897

FUV Spectroscopic Sensitivity Monitoring

The purpose of this proposal is to monitor sensitivity in each FUV grating mode to detect any changes due to contamination or other causes

WFC3/ACS/UVIS 11877

HST Cycle 17 and Post-SM4 Optical Monitor

This program is the Cycle 17 implementation of the HST Optical Monitoring Program

The 36 orbits comprising this proposal will utilize ACS (Wide Field Channel) and WFC3 (UVIS Channel) to observe stellar cluster members in parallel with multiple exposures over an orbit Phase retrieval performed on the PSF in each image will be used to measure primarily focus, with the ability to explore apparent coma, and astigmatism changes in WFC3

The goals of this program are to: 1) monitor the overall OTA focal length for the purposes of maintaining focus within science tolerances 2) gain experience with the relative effectiveness of phase retrieval on WFC3/UVIS PSFs 3) determine focus offset between the imagers and identify any SI-specific focus behavior and dependencies

If need is determined, future visits will be modified to interleave WFC3/IR channel and STIS/CCD focii measurements

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/CC 11845

CCD Dark Monitor Part 2

Monitor the darks for the STIS CCD

WFC3/UV 11841

The Formation of Brightest Cluster Galaxies

We propose Chandra and HST observations of a unique low redshift cluster in which the Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG) is in the process of forming The Chandra observations will be used to study the impact of BCG formation on the properties of the intracluster medium We will test whether galaxy merging can destroy cool cores and disrupt hot gas halos We will also explore the role of intracluster stars in enriching the intracluster medium The HST observations will be used to search for extended tidal features and young star clusters and to estimate the final stellar mass of the BCG The low redshift of our target allows a more detailed study of BCG formation than is possible with higher redshift systems

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

FGS 11788

The Architecture of Exoplanetary Systems

Are all planetary systems coplanar? Concordance cosmogony makes that prediction It is, however, a prediction of extrasolar planetary system architecture as yet untested by direct observation for main sequence stars other than the Sun To provide such a test, we propose to carry out FGS astrometric studies on four stars hosting seven companions Our understanding of the planet formation process will grow as we match not only system architecture, but formed planet mass and true distance from the primary with host star characteristics for a wide variety of host stars and exoplanet masses

We propose that a series of FGS astrometric observations with demonstrated 1 millisecond of arc per-observation precision can establish the degree of coplanarity and component true masses for four extrasolar systems: HD 202206 (brown dwarf+planet); HD 128311 (planet+planet), HD 160691 = mu Arae (planet+planet), and HD 222404AB = gamma Cephei (planet+star) In each case the companion is identified as such by assuming that the minimum mass is the actual mass For the last target, a known stellar binary system, the companion orbit is stable only if coplanar with the AB binary orbit

COS/NUV/FUV 11742

Probing HeII Reionization with GALEX-selected Quasar Sightlines and HST/COS

We propose spectroscopic observations with COS of eight z~3 QSOs that we found to be bright in the far ultraviolet Our aim is to study intergalactic absorption caused by the onset of the He II Lyman forest Several lines of evidence suggest that helium reionization occurred at z~3 Understanding this process is critical for a complete picture of the intergalactic medium and its evolution; it also gives clues to hydrogen reionization at z>6 The only direct means of assessing He II reionization is through far-UV observations of the He II Lyman alpha forest Only 6 sightlines are known to date where this is feasible, despite extensive surveys Our program is designed to double the number of available sightlines To this effect, we cross-correlated all known z>2 73 quasars with UV source lists from the GALEX satellite The selected quasars were all significantly detected in the far UV by GALEX, and their UV colors are similar to those of already known quasars with transparent sightlines Spectra obtained with COS will allow us to compile the first comprehensive sample of He II absorption spectra probing similar redshifts, enabling a systematic investigation of the He II reionization epoch and the spectral shape of the UV background

COS/NUV/FUV 11728

The Impact of Starbursts on the Gaseous Halos of Galaxies

Perhaps the most important (yet uncertain) aspects of galaxy evolution are the processes by which galaxies accrete gas and by which the resulting star formation and black hole growth affects this accreting gas It is believed that both the form of the accretion and the nature of the feedback change as a function of the galaxy mass At low mass the gas comes in cold and the feedback is provided by massive stars At high mass, the gas comes in hot, and the feedback is from an AGN The changeover occurs near the mass where the galaxy population transitions from star-forming galaxies to red and dead ones The population of red and dead galaxies is building with cosmic time, and it is believed that feedback plays an important role in this process: shutting down star formation by heating and/or expelling the reservoir of cold halo gas To investigate these ideas, we propose to use COS far-UV spectra of background QSOs to measure the properties of the halo gas in a sample of galaxies near the transition mass that have undergone starbursts within the past 100 Myr to 1 Gyr The galactic wind associated with the starburst is predicted to have affected the properties of the gaseous halo To test this, we will compare the properties of the halos of the post-starburst galaxies to those of a control sample of galaxies matched in mass and QSO impact parameter Do the halos of the post-starburst galaxies show a higher incidence rate of Ly-Alpha and metal absorption-lines? Are the kinematics of the halo gas more disturbed in the post-starbursts? Has the wind affected the ionization state and/or the metallicity of the halo? These data will provide fresh new insights into the role of feedback from massive stars on the evolution of galaxies, and may also offer clues about the properties of the QSO metal absorption-line systems at high-redshift

FGS 11704

The Ages of Globular Clusters and the Population II Distance Scale

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

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

ACS/WFC3 11670

The Host Environments of Type Ia Supernovae in the SDSS Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Supernova Survey has discovered nearly 500 type Ia supernovae and created a large, unique, and uniform sample of these cosmological tools As part of a comprehensive study of the supernova hosts, we propose to obtain Hubble ACS images of a large fraction of these galaxies Integrated colors and spectra will be measured from the ground, but we require high-resolution HST imaging to provide accurate morphologies and color information at the site of the explosion This information is essential in determining the systematic effects of population age on type Ia supernova luminosities and improving their reliability in measuring dark energy Recent studies suggest two populations of type Ia supernovae: a class that explodes promptly after star-formation and one that is delayed by billions of years Measuring the star-formation rate at the site of the supernova from colors in the HST images may be the best way to differentiate between these classes

WFC3/UVIS/IR 11662

Improving the Radius-Luminosity Relationship for Broad-Lined AGNs with a New Reverberation Sample

The radius-luminosity (R-L) relationship is currently the fundamental basis for all techniques used to estimate black hole masses in AGNs, in both the nearby and distant universe However, the current R-L relationship is based on 34 objects that cover a limited range in black hole mass and luminosity To improve our understanding of black hole growth and evolution, the R-L relationship must be extended to cover a broader range of black hole masses using the technique known as reverberation mapping To this end, we have been awarded an unprecedented 64 nights on the Lick Observatory 3-m telescope between March 24 and May 31, 2008, to spectroscopically monitor 12 AGNs in order to measure their black hole masses To properly determine the luminosities of these 12 AGNs, we must correct them for their host-galaxy starlight contributions using high-resolution images Previous work by Bentz et al (2006) has shown that the starlight correction to AGN luminosity measurements is an essential component to interpreting the R-L relationship The correction will be substantial for each of the 12 sources we will monitor, as the AGNs are relatively faint and embedded in nearby, bright galaxies Starlight corrections are not possible with ground-based images, as the PSF and bulge contributions become indistinguishable under typical seeing conditions, and adaptive optics are not yet operational in the spectral range where the corrections are needed In addition, spectral decompositions are very model-dependent and are limited by the degree of accuracy to which we understand emission processes and stellar populations in galaxies Without correcting for starlight, we will be unable to apply the results of our Spring 2008 campaign to the body of knowledge from previous reverberation mapping work Therefore, we propose to obtain high resolution, high dynamic range images of the host galaxies of the 12 AGNs in our ground-based monitoring sample, as well as one white dwarf which will be used as a PSF model

WFC3/IR 11648

WFC3 Spectroscopy of an X-ray Luminous Galaxy Cluster at z>2

We propose to obtain deep WFC3+G141 grism observations to spectroscopically confirm a remarkable z>2 cluster of galaxy candidate Over a 1000 arcmin^2 field imaged with SpitzerÃƒÂ•s IRAC we have discovered a compact (<30ÃƒÂ•ÃƒÂ• diameter) concentration of extremely red galaxies with a factor of >40 overdensity over the adjacent field Among these galaxies for which we can derive meaningful photometric redshifts, 17 are consistent with zphot=2-2 5, making it very likely that the concentration is a real cluster at such high redshift This is further supported by a 3 5 sigma detection of extended X-Ray emission on XMM-Newton data, by a likely color?magnitude sequence of red galaxies, and by the presence of a giant galaxy consistent with a BCG at the cluster redshift The general faintness of the red galaxies in all optical bands and their high redshifts prevent confirmation of this cluster with ordinary optical spectroscopy The WFC3 camera with G141 grism provides the only way to confirm this record high-z cluster and measure its redshift from spectral breaks typical of old stellar populations Our deep integrations will reveal redshifts for at least 19 ultra-red galaxies in the area and of a similar number of bluer galaxies at the cluster redshift Knowledge of the cluster redshift based on the HST spectra will allow us to reach important scientific aims: find the most distant X?ray emitting evolved galaxy cluster, determine membership of the other galaxies from photometric SED analysis, study their stellar population properties, characterize the color-magnitude relation with constraints on the formation redshift The proposed observations will establish a first z>2 benchmark for cluster?field comparisons of galaxy formation at this highest redshift and will firmly establish the progenitors of local rich Abell clusters

WFC3/UVIS/IR 11644

A Dynamical-Compositional Survey of the Kuiper Belt: A New Window Into the Formation of the Outer Solar System

The eight planets overwhelmingly dominate the solar system by mass, but their small numbers, coupled with their stochastic pasts, make it impossible to construct a unique formation history from the dynamical or compositional characteristics of them alone In contrast, the huge numbers of small bodies scattered throughout and even beyond the planets, while insignificant by mass, provide an almost unlimited number of probes of the statistical conditions, history, and interactions in the solar system To date, attempts to understand the formation and evolution of the Kuiper Belt have largely been dynamical simulations where a hypothesized starting condition is evolved under the gravitational influence of the early giant planets and an attempt is made to reproduce the current observed populations With little compositional information known for the real Kuiper Belt, the test particles in the simulation are free to have any formation location and history as long as they end at the correct point Allowing compositional information to guide and constrain the formation, thermal, and collisional histories of these objects would add an entire new dimension to our understanding of the evolution of the outer solar system While ground based compositional studies have hit their flux limits already with only a few objects sampled, we propose to exploit the new capabilities of WFC3 to perform the first ever large-scale dynamical-compositional study of Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) and their progeny to study the chemical, dynamical, and collisional history of the region of the giant planets The sensitivity of the WFC3 observations will allow us to go up to two magnitudes deeper than our ground based studies, allowing us the capability of optimally selecting a target list for a large survey rather than simply taking the few objects that can be measured, as we have had to do to date We have carefully constructed a sample of 120 objects which provides both overall breadth, for a general understanding of these objects, plus a large enough number of objects in the individual dynamical subclass to allow detailed comparison between and within these groups These objects will likely define the core Kuiper Belt compositional sample for years to come While we have many specific results anticipated to come from this survey, as with any project where the field is rich, our current knowledge level is low, and a new instrument suddenly appears which can exploit vastly larger segments of the population, the potential for discovery -- both anticipated and not -- is extraordinary

WFC3/UV 11605

Obtaining the Missing Links in the Test of Very Low Mass Evolutionary Models with HST

We are proposing for spatially resolved ACS+HRC observations of 11 very low mass binaries spanning late-M, L and T spectral types in order to obtain precise effective temperature measurements for each component All of our targets are part of a program in which we are measuring dynamical masses of very low-mass binaries to an unprecedented precision of 10% (or better) However, without precise temperature measurements, the full scientific value of these mass measurements cannot be realized Together, mass and temperature measurements will allow us to distinguish between brown dwarf evolutionary models that make different assumptions about the interior and atmospheric structure of these ultra-cool objects While dynamical masses can be obtained from the ground in the near-IR, obtaining precise temperatures require access to optical data which, for these sub-arcsecond binaries, can only be obtained from space with Hubble

WFC3/UVIS 11595

Turning Out the Light: A WFC3 Program to Image z>2 Damped Lyman Alpha Systems

We propose to directly image the star-forming regions of z>2 damped Lya systems (DLAs) using the WFC3/UVIS camera on the Hubble Space Telescope In contrast to all previous attempts to detect the galaxies giving rise to high redshift DLAs, we will use a novel technique that completely removes the glare of the background quasar Specifically, we will target quasar sightlines with multiple DLAs and use the higher redshift DLA as a ``blocking filter'' (via Lyman limit absorption) to eliminate all FUV emission from the quasar This will allow us to carry out a deep search for FUV emission from the lower redshift DLA, shortward of the Lyman limit of the higher redshift absorber The unique filter set and high spatial resolution afforded by WFC3/UVIS will then enable us to directly image the lower redshift DLA and thus estimate its size, star- formation rate and impact parameter from the QSO sightline We propose to observe a sample of 20 sightlines, selected primarily from the SDSS database, requiring a total of 40 HST orbits The observations will allow us to determine the first FUV luminosity function of high redshift DLA galaxies and to correlate the DLA galaxy properties with the ISM characteristics inferred from standard absorption-line analysis to significantly improve our understanding of the general DLA population

WFC3/UV/IR 11573

Investigating Post-Equinox Atmospheric Changes on Uranus

WFC3/ACS/UVIS/IR 11570

Narrowing in on the Hubble Constant and Dark Energy

WFC3/UV/COS/FUV 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

ACS/WFC 11338

Continued M31 Monitoring for Black Hole X-ray Nova

During A01-7 we found >16 Black Hole X-ray Novae (BHXN) in M31 using Chandra, and with HST followup have estimated orbital periods for 6 of these Observations are underway with HST to attempt to estimate additional periods We propose to continue this program, concentrating our scarce HST resources on a single transient which exceeds the NS Eddington limit Only uninterrupted monitoring can yield the duty cycles and long-term lightcurves of BHXN (and other variables) in M31 Our GO+GTO programs have accumulated 300ks (ACIS) near the M31 bulge, and total ACIS exposure on M31 is now 620ks Our monitoring program alone can amass 500ks on the bulge if continued through AO12, and combined with other programs will reach >1Msec ACIS exposure on the bulge

============================================================================== TOPIC: Daily Report #5112

http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/269f0c0ae8d71cfd?hl=en

== 1 of 1 == Date: Tues, Jun 8 2010 9:23Ã‚Â am From: "Cooper, Joe"

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #5112

PERIOD COVERED: 5am June 7 - 5am June 8, 2010 (DOY 158/09:00z-159/09:00z)

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated )

HSTARS:

12297 - REAcq(1,2,1) at 159/07:28:29z failed, FGS Sequential Attitude update failed at 159/07:31z Initial GSACQ(1,2,1) at 159/06:02:27z was successful

Observations affected: WFC3 49 - 52, proposal ID#11926

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

                  SCHEDULED   SUCCESSFUL

FGS GSAcq 13 13 FGS REAcq 4 3 OBAD with Maneuver 8 8

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED:

ACS/WFC 11995

CCD Daily Monitor (Part 2)

ACS/WFC3 11735

The LSD Project: Dynamics, Merging and Stellar Populations of a Sample of Well-Studied LBGs at z~3

A large observational effort with the ground-based ESO/VLT telescopes allowed us to obtain deep, spatially-resolved, near-IR spectra of complete sample of 11 Lyman-Break Galaxies at z~3 1 These observations were used to obtain, for the first time, the metallicity and the dynamical properties of a sample of objects that, albeit small, is representative of the total population of the LBGs We propose to use HST to obtain high-resolution optical and near-IR images of this sample of LBGs in order to study the broad-band morphology and the stellar light distribution of these galaxies These images, exploiting the superior spatial resolution of HST images and the low-background : 1- will allow a precise measure of the dynamical mass from the velocity field derived with spectroscopy; 2- will permit a comparison of the distribution of star formation (from the line emission) with the underlying stellar population, and, 3- will be used to check if the complex velocity field and the multiple line-emitting regions detected in most targets can be ascribed to on-going mergers This accurate study will shed light on a number of unsolved problems still affecting the knowledge of the LBGs

COS/FUV 11687

SNAPing Coronal Iron

This is a Snapshot Survey to explore two forbidden lines of highly ionized iron in late-type coronal sources Fe XII 1349 (T~ 2 MK) and Fe XXI 1354 (T~ 10 MK) -- well known to Solar Physics -- have been detected in about a dozen cool stars, mainly with HST/STIS The UV coronal forbidden lines are important because they can be observed with velocity resolution of better than 15 km/s, whereas even the state-of-the-art X-ray spectrometers on Chandra can manage only 300 km/s in the kilovolt band where lines of highly ionized iron more commonly are found The kinematic properties of hot coronal plasmas, which are of great interest to theorists and modelers, thus only are accessible in the UV at present The bad news is that the UV coronal forbidden lines are faint, and were captured only in very deep observations with STIS The good news is that 3rd-generation Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, slated for installation in HST by SM4, in a mere 25 minute exposure with its G130M mode can duplicate the sensitivity of a landmark 25-orbit STIS E140M observation of AD Leo, easily the deepest such exposure of a late-type star so far Our goal is to build up understanding of the properties of Fe XII and Fe XXI in additional objects beyond the current limited sample: how the lineshapes depend on activity, whether large scale velocity shifts can be detected, and whether the dynamical content of the lines can be inverted to map the spatial morphology of the stellar corona (as in "Doppler Imaging'') In other words, we want to bring to bear in the coronal venue all the powerful tricks of spectroscopic remote sensing, well in advance of the time that this will be possible exploiting the corona's native X-ray radiation The 1290-1430 band captured by side A of G130M also contains a wide range of key plasma diagnostics that form at temperatures from below 10, 000 K (neutral lines of CNO), to above 200, 000 K (semi-permitted O V 1371), including the important bright multiplets of C II at 1335 and Si IV at 1400; yielding a diagnostic gold mine for the subcoronal atmosphere Because of the broad value of the SNAP spectra, beyond the coronal iron project, we waive the normal proprietary rights

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/STIS/CCD/MA1 11592

Testing the Origin(s) of the Highly Ionized High-Velocity Clouds: A Survey of Galactic Halo Stars at z>3 kpc

Cosmological simulation predicts that highly ionized gas plays an important role in the formation and evolution of galaxies and their interplay with the intergalactic medium The NASA HST and FUSE missions have revealed high-velocity CIV and OVI absorption along extragalactic sightlines through the Galactic halo These highly ionized high-velocity clouds (HVCs) could cover 85% of the sky and have a detection rate higher than the HI HVCs Two competing, equally exciting, theories may explain the origin of these highly ionized HVCs: 1) the "Galactic" theory, where the HVCs are the result of feedback processes and trace the disk-halo mass exchange, perhaps including the accretion of matter condensing from an extended corona; 2) the "Local Group" theory, where they are part of the local warm-hot intergalactic medium, representing some of the missing baryonic matter of the Universe Only direct distance determinations can discriminate between these models Our group has found that some of these highly ionized HVCs have a Galactic origin, based on STIS observations of one star at z<5 3 kpc We propose an HST FUV spectral survey to search for and characterize the high velocity NV, CIV, and SiIV interstellar absorption toward 24 stars at much larger distances than any previous searches (4

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/FUV 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

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 11721

Verifying the Utility of Type Ia Supernovae as Cosmological Probes: Evolution and Dispersion in the Ultraviolet Spectra

The study of distant type Ia supernova (SNe Ia) offers the most practical and immediate discriminator between popular models of dark energy Yet fundamental questions remain over possible redshift-dependent trends in their observed and intrinsic properties High-quality Keck spectroscopy of a representative sample of 36 intermediate redshift SNe Ia has revealed a surprising, and unexplained, diversity in their rest-frame UV fluxes One possible explanation is hitherto undiscovered variations in the progenitor metallicity Unfortunately, this result cannot be compared to local UV data as only two representative SNe Ia have been studied near maximum light Taking advantage of two new `rolling searches' and the restoration of STIS, we propose a non-disruptive TOO campaign to create an equivalent comparison local sample This will allow us to address possible evolution in the mean UV spectrum and its diversity, an essential precursor to the study of SNe beyond z~1

WFC3/ACS/UVIS 11603

A Comprehensive Study of Dust Formation in Type II Supernovae with HST, Spitzer, and Gemini

The recent discovery of three extremely bright Type II SNe, (2007it, 2007oc, 2007od) gives us a unique opportunity to combine observations with HST, Spitzer, and Gemini to study the little understood dust formation process in Type II Sne Priority 1 Spitzer Cycle 5 and band 1 Gemini 2008A time has already been approved for this project Since late-time Type II Sne are faint and tend to be in crowded fields, we need the high sensitivity and high spatial resolution of ACS and NICMOS/NIC2 for these observations This project is motivated by the recent detection of large amounts of dust in high redshift galaxies The dust in these high-z galaxies must come from young, massive stars so Type II Sne could be potential sources The mechanism and the efficiency of dust condensation in Type II SN ejecta are not well understood, largely due to the lack of observational data We plan to produce a unique dataset, combining spectroscopy and imaging in the visible, near- and mid-IR covering the key phase, 400-700 days after maximum when dust is known to form in the SN ejecta Therefore, we are proposing for coordinated HST/NOAO observations (HST ACS, NICMOS/NIC2 & Gemini/GMOS and TReCS) which will be combined with our Spitzer Cycle 5 data to study these new bright Sne The results of this program will place strong constraints on the formation of dust seen in young high redshift (z>5) galaxies

WFC3/IR 11666

Chilly Pairs: A Search for the Latest-type Brown Dwarf Binaries and the Prototype Y Dwarf

We propose to use HST/NICMOS to image a sample of 27 of the nearest (< 20 pc) and lowest luminosity T-type brown dwarfs in order to identify and characterize new very low mass binary systems Only 3 late-type T dwarf binaries have been found to date, despite that fact that these systems are critical benchmarks for evolutionary and atmospheric models at the lowest masses They are also the most likely systems to harbor Y dwarf companions, an as yet unpopulated putative class of very cold (T < 600 K) brown dwarfs Our proposed program will more than double the number of T5-T9 dwarfs imaged at high resolution, with an anticipated yield of ~5 new binaries with initial characterization of component spectral types We will be able to probe separations sufficient to identify systems suitable for astrometric orbit and dynamical mass measurements We also expect one of our discoveries to contain the first Y-type brown dwarf Our proposed program complements and augments ongoing ground-based adaptive optics surveys and provides pathway science for JWST

WFC3/IR/S/C 11929

IR Dark Current Monitor

WFC3/IR 11926

IR Zero Points

WFC3/UV 12119

Rapid Response: Unexpected Jupiter Impact

On 3 June 2010, amateur astronomers A Wesley and C Go independently captured observations of an impact on Jupiter: the bright flash of an impact itself, not the dark aftermath as seen in 2009 This event was completely unexpected given the recent impact in 2009, and contradicts recently revised predictions of jovian impact rates Three circumstances make this 2009 event unique: first, the event was captured on video; second, it was on the jovian day-side and hence fully visible from Earth; and third, it was at low latitude (i e , favorably placed on the planet) These factors will permit a lightcurve to be extracted, which is critical for determining the energy of the explosion and hence the size of the impacting body (not available for the 2009 event and available for only a few 1994 events by Galileo) As of this writing, no dark impact site has been detected with telescopes of any aperture, including the Gemini North telescope Hubble may be the only facility with high enough spatial resolution to detect the 2010 impact site If Hubble images show a site, then the body's trajectory might be obtainable If no site is detected, then Hubble will confirm that this is the first observation of a meteor on another atmosphere-bearing planet If an event of this size occurred on Earth, it would be likely be termed a Type 1 Low-Altitude Airburst, like Tunguska or larger Thus, this new event could become the best-observed analogue of a terrestrial airburst of the size that dominates the impact threat to humans The observations we propose should provide independent constraints on penetration depth and atmospheric effects This data will strongly inform our understanding of terrestrial airbursts and allow better quantification of the associated threat We request a single orbit to image the impact latitude on the planet's central meridian Of critical importance are Hubble's unique UV sensitivity (critical for assessing aspects of the 2009 impact, and not obtainable from any ground-based facility) and Hubble's high spatial resolution (also not obtainable in the visible form any ground-based telescope)

WFC3/UVIS 11707

Detecting Isolated Black Holes through Astrometric Microlensing

This proposal aims to make the first detection of isolated stellar-mass black holes (BHs) in the Milky Way, and to determine their masses Until now, the only directly measured BH masses have come from radial-velocity measurements of X-ray binaries Our proposed method uses the astrometric shifts that occur when a galactic-bulge microlensing event is caused by a BH lens Out of the hundreds of bulge microlensing events found annually by the OGLE and MOA surveys, a few are found to have very long durations (>200 days) It is generally believed that the majority of these long-duration events are caused by lenses that are isolated BHs

To test this hypothesis, we will carry out high-precision astrometry of 5 long-duration events, using the ACS/HRC camera The expected astrometric signal from a BH lens is >1 4 mas, at least 7 times the demonstrated astrometric precision attainable with the HRC

This proposal will thus potentially lead to the first unambiguous detection of isolated stellar-mass BHs, and the first direct mass measurement for isolated stellar-mass BHs through any technique Detection of several BHs will provide information on the frequency of BHs in the galaxy, with implications for the slope of the IMF at high masses, the minimum mass of progenitors that produce BHs, and constraints on theoretical models of BH formation

WFC3/UVIS 11732

The Temperature Profiles of Quasar Accretion Disks

We can now routinely measure the size of quasar accretion disks using gravitational microlensing of lensed quasars At optical wavelengths we observe a size and scaling with black hole mass roughly consistent with thin disk theory but the sizes are larger than expected from the observed optical fluxes One solution would be to use a flatter temperature profile, which we can study by measuring the wavelength dependence of the disk size over the largest possible wavelength baseline Thus, to understand the size discrepancy and to probe closer to the inner edge of the disk we need to extend our measurements to UV wavelengths, and this can only be done with HST For example, in the UV we should see significant changes in the optical/UV size ratio with black hole mass We propose monitoring 5 lenses spanning a broad range of black hole masses with well-sampled ground based light curves, optical disk size measurements and known GALEX UV fluxes during Cycles 17 and 18 to expand from our current sample of two lenses We would obtain 5 observations of each target in each Cycle, similar to our successful strategy for the first two targets

WFC3/UVIS 11905

WFC3 UVIS CCD Daily Monitor

WFC3/UVIS 11908

Cycle 17: UVIS Bowtie Monitor

==============================================================================

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