HUBBLE
SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science
DAILY
REPORT #5178
PERIOD
COVERED: 5am September 9 - 5am September 10, 2010 (DOY 252/09:00z-253/09:00z)
FLIGHT
OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
Significant
Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports
of
potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.)
HSTARS:
12390
- SIC&DH Safed (CU/SDF lockup) @ 252 /22:39:21z
12392
- WFC3 Suspends at 253/04:24:35
12393
- SIC&DH-2 Bus B Current Monitor Failure @ 253/03:38:50z
COMPLETED
OPS REQUEST:
18901-1
- CU/SDF Lock-up Recovery, Part B @ 253/04:19:40z
18903-0
- CU/SDF Lock-up Recovery, Part A @ 253/00:20:30z
18904-1
- Power off COS FUV @ 253/07:54:54z
18905-0
- Modify NSSC-1 ED Limit for M2BUSCUB @ 253/08:01:49z
COMPLETED
OPS NOTES: None
SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL
FGS
GSAcq 6 6
FGS
REAcq 9 9
OBAD
with Maneuver 5 5
SIGNIFICANT
EVENTS:
HST
experienced an SIC&DH CU/SDF lock-up at 252/22:39z.
After
verification of the signature the CU/SDF recovery began.
OBSERVATIONS
SCHEDULED:
ACS/WFC
12292
SWELLS:
Doubling the Number of Disk-dominated Edge-on Spiral Lens
Galaxies
The
formation of realistic disk galaxies within the LCDM cosmology is
still
largely an unsolved problem. Theory is now beginning to make
predictions
for how dark matter halos respond to galaxy formation, and
for
the properties of disk galaxies. Measuring the density profiles of
dark
matter halos on galaxy scales is therefore a strong test for the
standard
paradigm of galaxy formation, offering great potential for
discovery.
However, the degeneracy between the stellar and dark matter
contributions
to galaxy rotation curves remains a major obstacle. Strong
gravitational
lensing, when combined with spatially resolved kinematics
and
stellar population models, can solve this long-standing problem.
Unfortunately,
this joint methodology could not be exploited until
recently
due to the paucity of known edge-on spiral lenses. We have
developed
and demonstrated an efficient technique to find exactly these
systems.
During supplemental cycle-16 we discovered five new spiral lens
galaxies,
suitable for rotation curve measurements. We propose
multi-color
HST imaging of 16 candidates and 2 partially-imaged
confirmed
systems, to measure a sample of eight new edge-on spiral
lenses.
This program will at least double the number of known
disk-dominated
systems. This is crucial for constraining the relative
contribution
of the disk, bulge and dark halo to the total density
profile.
STIS/CCD/MA
11576
Physical
Parameters of the Upper Atmosphere of the Extrasolar Planet
HD209458b
One
of the most studied extrasolar planet, HD209458b, has revealed both
its
lower and upper atmosphere thanks to HST and Spitzer observatories.
Through
transmission spectroscopy technique, several atmospheric species
were
detected: NaI, HI, OI and CII. Using STIS archived transit
absorption
spectrum from 3000 to 8000 Angstrom, we obtained detailed
constraints
on the vertical profile of temperature, pressure and
abundances
(Sing et al 2008a, 2008b, Lecavelier et al. 2008b).
By
observing in the NUV, from 2300 to 3100 Angstrom, we expect to obtain
new
constraints on the physical conditions and the chemical composition
of
the upper atmosphere: temperature/pressure profile up to very high in
the
atmosphere, abundance and condensation altitudes of new species, and
new
insight in the atmospheric escape and ionization state at the upper
levels.
The observation of four HD209458b transits with a single E230M
setting
will give access to many NUV atomic lines addressing these
issues.
The proposed observations will probe, for the first time, in
details
the atmosphere of a hot Jupiter, thus bench marking follow up
studies.
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/MA
12179
The
Stellar Winds of Evolved, Braked O-Type Magnetic Oblique Rotators
Magnetic
fields have recently been discovered on several massive stars,
but
their origin and influence on the evolution of these stars are
poorly
understood. Two of these objects, HD 191612 and HD 108, are of
particular
interest. Very recent spectropolarimetric observations have
shown
that they are most likely magnetic oblique rotators, like the
young
O star Theta1 Ori C, whose 15d periodically variable field was
found
somewhat earlier. However, the two new objects are much slower
rotators,
unusually so for O stars, with periods of 538d and 50-60yrs,
respectively,
and there are other indications that they are older. They
provide
an opportunity to study the efficiency of wind braking of
magnetic
O stars through angular momentum loss. We shall perform STIS
high-resolution
UV spectroscopy of HD 191612 and HD 108 (phase resolved
for
the former) to derive more complete estimates of fundamental
quantities
than available from optical data alone. We shall measure the
mass-loss
rates from the UV wind profiles, which will constrain the
extreme
wind confinement of these stars and establish whether the large
H-alpha
emission variations are wind-related or geometrical. We shall
also
derive more accurate ages and stellar surface properties. In turn,
these
results will support a more definitive discussion of the angular
momentum
evolution versus the ages of HD 191612 and HD 108, and of the
comparison
with the younger and faster Theta1 Ori C.
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).
S/C
11639
Catching
Accreting WDs Moving into Their Instability Strip(s)
Our
past HST studies of the temperatures of 9 accreting, pulsating white
dwarfs
in cataclysmic variables show that 3 are in the normal
instability
strip for single white dwarfs, but the other 6 are much
hotter
(15, 000-16, 500K). This dual strip has been proposed to be due
to
mass differences in the white dwarfs related to evolutionary history
and
driven by the ionization of different elements in their respective
driving
regions. In 2007, GW Lib (the brightest and best studied of the
6
hot accreting pulsators) and V455 And (the brightest and best studied
of
the 3 cool accreting pulsators) underwent rare large amplitude dwarf
nova
outbursts (known to heat the white dwarf) and their pulsations
disappeared.
We propose COS observations to: a) take advantage of the
unprecedented
opportunity to view the change in pulsation modes due to
cooling
of the white dwarf envelope and b) determine the masses of the
white
dwarfs to test the dual strip theory. In addition, a nova that had
its
outburst 22 yrs ago has begun non-radial pulsations as it returns to
quiescence.
We will use COS to determine its temperature in relation to
the
instability strip for the pulsating white dwarfs in dwarf novae.
WFC3/UVIS
11675
Stellar
Forensics: A Post-Explosion View of the Progenitors of
Core-Collapse
Supernovae
Recent
studies have used high spatial resolution HST observations of SN
sites
to identify the progenitors of core-collapse SNe on pre-explosion
images.
These studies have set constraints about the nature of massive
stars
and their evolution just prior to their explosion as SNe. Now, at
late-times
when the SNe have faded sufficiently, it is possible to
return
to the sites of these core-collapse SNe to search for clues about
the
nature of their progenitors. We request time to conduct deep,
late-time,
high-resolution imaging with ACS/HRC of the sites of six
core-collapse
SNe. In this program we aim to: 1) confirm our
identifications,
that were made with HST pre-explosion images, of the
red
supergiant progenitors of four Type IIP SNe (1999ev, 2003gd, 2004A
and
2005cs), by observing if the objects identified as the progenitors
are
now missing; 2) place precise constraints on the progenitor of the
Type
Ic SN 2007gr by studying its host cluster; and 3) confirm our
identification
of an LBV-like outburst of an unstable WR star as
belonging
to the progenitor of a Type Ib-n core-collapse SN (2006jc),
using
broad and narrow-band imaging to search for emission line stars in
its
locality. The deep imaging will also allow to probe the stellar
populations
in the immediate vicinities of these SNe, that were
previously
obscured by the progenitors and the bright SNe. HST provides
the
unique combination of high-resolution optical imaging at very faint
magnitudes
that will facilitate this study.
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).