Date: June 28th 2006

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT # 4144

PERIOD COVERED: UT June 27, 2006 (DOY 178)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

WFPC2 10551

Gamma-Ray Bursts from Start to Finish: A Legacy Approach

The progenitors of long-duration GRBs are now known to be massive stars This result lends credence to the collapsar model, where a rotating massive star ends its life leaving a black hole or a highly magnetized neutron star, and confirms its essential aspects The focus of attention now is on the black hole or magnetar engines that power the bursts Somehow these engines create the most highly relativistic and highly collimated outflows that we know of, through mechanisms that no current theory can explain These astrophysical laboratories challenge our understanding of relativistic shocks, of mechanisms for extracting energy from a black hole, and of how physics works in extreme conditions The launch of Swift is bringing us into a new era, where we can make broadband observations that will enable us to study these fascinating physical processes We propose here an ambitious, comprehensive program to obtain the datasets that will become the standard that any successful model for the central engine must explain This programs leverages the HST observations to the maximum extent by our commitment of Swift observations, a Large program at the VLA, and extensive ground-based optical resources By studying the engines and searching for jets in a variety of events, this program will investigate the conditions necessary for the engine and jet formation itself

FGS 10612

Binary Stars in Cyg OB2: Relics of Massive Star Formation in a Super-Star Cluster

We propose to make a high angular resolution SNAP survey of the massive stars in the nearby, super-star cluster Cyg OB2 We will use FGS1r TRANS mode observations to search for astrometric companions in the separation range of 0 01 to 1 00 arcsec and in the magnitude difference range smaller than 4 magnitudes The observations will test the idea that the formation of very massive stars involves mergers and the presence of nearby companions Discovery of companions to massive stars in this relatively nearby complex will provide guidance in the interpretation of apparently supermassive stars in distant locations The search for companions will also be important for verification of fundamental parameters derived from spectroscopy, adjustments to main sequence fitting and distance estimations, determining third light contributions of eclipsing binaries, identifying wide colliding wind binaries, studying the relationship between orbital and spin angular momentum, and discovering binaries amenable to future mass determinations The massive star environment in Cyg OB2 may be similar to the kinds found in the earliest epoch of star formation, so that a study of the role of binaries in Cyg OB2 will help us understand the formation processes of the first stars in the Universe

NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 8793

NICMOS Post-SAA calibration - CR Persistence Part 4

A new procedure proposed to alleviate the CR-persistence problem of NICMOS Dark frames will be obtained immediately upon exiting the SAA contour 23, and every time a NICMOS exposure is scheduled within 50 minutes of coming out of the SAA The darks will be obtained in parallel in all three NICMOS Cameras The POST-SAA darks will be non- standard reference files available to users with a USEAFTER date/time mark The keyword 'USEAFTER=date/time' will also be added to the header of each POST-SAA DARK frame The keyword must be populated with the time, in addition to the date, because HST crosses the SAA ~8 times per day so each POST-SAA DARK will need to have the appropriate time specified, for users to identify the ones they need Both the raw and processed images will be archived as POST-SAA DARKSs Generally we expect that all NICMOS science/calibration observations started within 50 minutes of leaving an SAA will need such maps to remove the CR persistence from the science images Each observation will need its own CRMAP, as different SAA passages leave different imprints on the NICMOS detectors

NIC2 10173

Infrared Snapshots of 3CR Radio Galaxies

Radio galaxies are an important class of extragalactic objects: they are one of the most energetic astrophysical phenomena and they provide an exceptional probe of the evolving Universe, lying typically in high density regions but well-represented across a wide redshift range In earlier Cycles we carried out extensive HST observations of the 3CR sources in order to acquire a complete and quantitative inventory of the structure, contents and evolution of these important objects Amongst the results, we discovered new optical jets, dust lanes, face-on disks with optical jets, and revealed point-like nuclei whose properties support FR-I/BL Lac unified schemes Here, we propose to obtain NICMOS infrared images of 3CR sources with z<0 3 as a major enhancement to an already superb dataset We aim to deshroud dusty galaxies, study the underlying host galaxy free from the distorting effects of dust, locate hidden regions of star formation and establish the physical characteristics of the dust itself We will measure frequency and spectral energy distributions of point-like nuclei, expected to be stronger and more prevalent in the IR, seek spectral turnovers in known synchrotron jets and find new jets We will strongly test unified AGN schemes and merge these data with existing X-ray to radio observations The resulting database will be an incredibly valuable resource to the astronomical community for years to come

NIC2 10849

Imaging Scattered Light from Debris Disks Discovered by the Spitzer Space Telescope around 21 Sun-like Stars

We propose to use the high-contrast capability of the NICMOS coronagraph to image a sample of newly discovered circumstellar disks associated with Sun-like stars These systems were identified by their strong thermal infrared {IR} emission with the Spitzer Space Telescope as part of the Spitzer Legacy Science program titled "The Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems" {FEPS, P I : M Meyer} Modeling of the thermal excess emission from the spectral energy distributions alone cannot distinguish between narrowly confined high-opacity disks and broadly distributed, low-opacity disks By resolving light scattered by the circumstellar material, our proposed NICMOS observations can break this degeneracy, thus revealing the conditions under which planet formation processes are occuring or have occured For three of our IR-excess stars that have known radial-velocity planets, resolved imaging of the circumstellar debris disks may further offer an unprecedented view of planet-disk interactions in an extrasolar planetary system Even non-detections of the light scattered by the circumstellar material will place strong constraints on the disk geometries, ruling out disk models with high optical depth Unlike previous disk imaging programs, our program contains a well-defined sample of ~1 solar mass stars covering a range of ages from 3 Myr to 3 Gyr, thus allowing us to study the evolution of disks from primordial to debris for the first time The results from our program will greatly improve our understanding of the architecture of debris disks around Sun-like stars, and will create a morphological context for the existence of our own solar system This proposal is for a continuation of an approved Cycle 14 program {GO/10527, P I : D Hines}

WFPC2 10534

Active Atmospheres on Uranus and Neptune

We propose Snapshot observations of Uranus and Neptune to monitor changes in their atmospheres on time scales of weeks, months, and years Uranus is rapidly approaching equinox in 2007, with another 4 degrees of latitude becoming visible every year Recent HST observations during this epoch {including 6818: Hammel, Lockwood, and Rages; 8680: Hammel, Rages, Lockwood, and Marley; 8634: Rages, Hammel, Lockwood, Marley, and McKay; and 10170: Rages, Hammel, Lockwood, and Marley} have revealed strongly wavelength-dependent latitudinal structure and the presence of numerous visible- wavelength cloud features in the northern hemisphere Long-term ground-based observations {Lockwood and Thompson 1999} show seasonal brightness changes whose origins are not well understood Recent near-IR images of Neptune obtained using adaptive optics on the Keck Telesccope together with images from our Cycle 9 Snapshot program {8634} show a general increase in activity at south temperate latitudes as well as the possible development of another Great Dark Spot Further Snapshot observations of these two dynamic planets will elucidate the nature of long-term changes in their zonal atmospheric bands and clarify the processes of formation, evolution, and dissipation of discrete albedo features

WFPC2 10744

WFPC2 Cycle 14 Decontaminations and Associated Observations

This proposal is for the WFPC2 decons Also included are instrument monitors tied to decons: photometric stability check, focus monitor, pre- and post-decon internals {bias, intflats, kspots, & darks}, UV throughput check, VISFLAT sweep, and internal UV flat check

WFPC2 10751

WFPC2 CYCLE 14 Intflat Linearity Check and Filter Rotation Anomaly Monitor

Intflat observations will be taken to provide a linearity check: the linearity test consists of a series of intflats in F555W, in each gain and each shutter A combination of intflats, visflats, and earthflats will be used to check the repeatability of filter wheel motions {Intflat sequences tied to decons, visits 1-18 in prop 10363, have been moved to the cycle 14 decon proposal 10744 for easier scheduling }

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 08 08 FGS REacq 07 07 OBAD with Maneuver 30 30 LOSS of LOCK

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)

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