Date: September 10th 2006

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT # 4193

PERIOD COVERED: UT September 06, 2006 (DOY 249)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

ACS/HRC 10738

Earth Flats

Sky flats will be obtained by observing the bright Earth with the HRC and WFC These observations will be used to verify the accuracy of the flats currently in the pipeline and to monitor any changes Weekly coronagraphic monitoring is required to assess the changing position of the spots

ACS/HRC 10878

An ACS Prism Snapshot Survey for z~2 Lyman Limit Systems

We propose to conduct a spectroscopic survey of Lyman limit absorbers at redshifts 1 7 < z < 2 2, using ACS/HRC and the PR200L prism We have selected 100 quasars at 2 3 < z < 2 6 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Spectroscopic Quasar sample, for which no BAL signature is found at the QSO redshift and no strong metal absorption lines are present at z > 2 3 along the lines of sight The survey has three main observational goals First, we will determine the redshift frequency dN/dz of the LLS over the column density range 16 3

ACS/HRC/WFC 10758

ACS CCDs daily monitor

This program consists of a set of basic tests to monitor, the read noise, the development of hot pixels and test for any source of noise in ACS CCD detectors The files, biases and dark will be used to create reference files for science calibration This programme will be for the entire lifetime of ACS Changes from cycle 13:- The default gain for WFC is 2 e-/DN As before bias frames will be collected for both gain 1 and gain 2 Dark frames are acquired using the default gain {2} This program cover the period May, 31 2006- Oct, 1-2006 The first half of the program has a different proposal number: 10729

ACS/WFC 10886

The Sloan Lens ACS Survey: Towards 100 New Strong Lenses

As a continuation of the highly successful Sloan Lens ACS {SLACS} Survey for new strong gravitational lenses, we propose one orbit of ACS-WFC F814W imaging for each of 50 high- probability strong galaxy-galaxy lens candidates These observations will confirm new lens systems and permit immediate and accurate photometry, shape measurement, and mass modeling of the lens galaxies The lenses delivered by the SLACS Survey all show extended source structure, furnishing more constraints on the projected lens potential than lensed-quasar image positions In addition, SLACS lenses have lens galaxies that are much brighter than their lensed sources, facilitating detailed photometric and dynamical observation of the former When confirmed lenses from this proposal are combined with lenses discovered by SLACS in Cycles 13 and 14, we expect the final SLACS lens sample to number 80--100: an approximate doubling of the number of known galaxy-scale strong gravitational lenses and an order-of-magnitude increase in the number of optical Einstein rings By virtue of its homogeneous selection and sheer size, the SLACS sample will allow an unprecedented exploration of the mass structure of the early-type galaxy population as a function of all other observable quantities This new sample will be a valuable resource to the astronomical community by enabling qualitatively new strong lensing science, and as such we will waive all but a short {3-month} proprietary period on the observations

ACS/WFC/NIC3 10632

Searching for galaxies at z>6 5 in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field

We propose to obtain deep ACS {F606W, F775W, F850LP} imaging in the area of the original Hubble Ultra Deep Field NICMOS parallel fields and - through simultaneous parallel observations - deep NICMOS {F110W, F160W} imaging of the ACS UDF area Matching the extreme imaging depth in the optical and near-IR bands will result in seven fields with sufficiently sensitive multiband data to detect the expected typical galaxies at z=7 and 8 Presently no such a field exist Our combined optical and near-IR ultradeep fields will be in three areas separated by about 20 comoving Mpc at z=7 This will allow us to give a first assessment of the degree of cosmic variance If reionization is a process extending over a large redshift interval and the luminosity function doesn't evolve strongly beyond z=6, these data will allow us to identify of the order of a dozen galaxies at 6 56 5 Conversely, finding fewer objects would be an indication that the bulk of reionization is done by galaxies at z=6 By spending 204 orbits of prime HST time we will capitalize on the investment of 544 prime orbits already made on the Hubble Ultra Deep Field {UDF} We have verified that the program as proposed is schedulable and that it will remain so even if forced to execute in the 2-gyro mode The data will be non-proprietary and the reduced images will be made public within 2 months from the completion of the observations

CAL/ACS 10735

SBC MAMA Recovery

This proposal is designed for the initial turn-on of the ACS MAMA detector and to permit recovery after an anomalous shutdown Anomalous shutdowns can occur as a result of bright object violations which trigger the Bright Scene Detection or Software Global Monitors Anomalous shutdowns can also occur as a result of MAMA hardware problems The Initial MAMA turn-on/recovery from anomalous shutdown consists of three tests: a signal processing electronics check, high voltage ramp-up to an intermediate voltage, and high voltage ramp-up to the full operating voltage During each of the two high voltage ramp-ups, diagnostics are performed during a dark ACCUM The turn-on is followed by a MAMA Fold Analysis

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, ACS/WFC 10802

SHOES-Supernovae, HO, for the Equation of State of Dark energy

The present uncertainty in the value of the Hubble constant {resulting in an uncertainty in Omega_M} and the paucity of Type Ia supernovae at redshifts exceeding 1 are now the leading obstacles to determining the nature of dark energy We propose a single, integrated set of observations for Cycle 15 that will provide a 40% improvement in constraints on dark energy This program will observe known Cepheids in six reliable hosts of Type Ia supernovae with NICMOS, reducing the uncertainty in H_0 by a factor of two because of the smaller dispersion along the instability strip, the diminished extinction, and the weaker metallicity dependence in the infrared In parallel with ACS, at the same time the NICMOS observations are underway, we will discover and follow a sample of Type Ia supernovae at z > 1 Together, these measurements, along with prior constraints from WMAP, will provide a great improvement in HST's ability to distinguish between a static, cosmological constant and dynamical dark energy The Hubble Space Telescope is the only instrument in the world that can make these IR measurements of Cepheids beyond the Local Group, and it is the only telescope in the world that can be used to find and follow supernovae at z > 1 Our program exploits both of these unique capabilities of HST to learn more about one of the greatest mysteries in science

NIC3 10996

NICMOS J-band Imaging of Strongly Lensing Clusters

We propose to use deep imaging in the F110W {'J'} band over a large area to search for highly magnified galaxies around massive lensing clusters

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

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

HSTARS: 10421 - REAcq (2,1,2) failed to RGA control REAcq (2,1,2) scheduled at 249/09:38:14-09:45:35 failed to RGA control No flags were observed Pre Acq OBAD's RSS values were 274 26 & 6 41 a-s Post Acq Map showed the RSS value of 12 53 a-s

10422 - FGS-1 Bit Flip following SAA Contour @ 249/12:44:59z At acquisition of signal 249/12:55:45 post-SAA Contour, FGS-1 experienced a bit-flip which caused QF1SRLEX and QF1STOPF to flag The FGSs are known to be susceptible in the SAA,and upset parameters have been experienced in the past with no impact to FGSs The guide star acquisition at 249/13:04:59 using FGS-1 cleared the flags and proceeded normally The spacecraft was in RGA Hold when the anomaly occurred

1043 - REAcq (1,3,3) failed to RGA control REAcq (1,3,3) scheduled at 250/06:24:14-06:31:33 failed to RGA control Mnemonic D4MRFGS stopped at CfObsrvr and did not display SciInit Remained in F2G till 06:31:43 Transitioned from F2G to T2G at 06:31:49 and to M2G at 06:44:31 Mnemonics QF1SSDIF & QF3SSDIF flagged at 250/06:31:52 Pre-Acq OBAD's showed these respective RSS values 23 44 & 45 63 a-s Post-Acq OBAD Map showed RSS value of 11 14 a-s

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

                      SCHEDULED      SUCCESSFUL

FGS GSacq 08 08 FGS REacq 07 06 OBAD with Maneuver 30 30

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: Flash Report ACS FSW CS 4 02A (Wed, 06 Sep 2006 09:37:35) -- ACS FSW was updated to CS 4 02A via SMS commanding at 2006/247 00:10 This updated version of the ACS FSW will become active at ~251/11:00 when ACS transition out of its monthly Anneal mode and the code copied from EEPROM to EDAC RAM The patch was verified by the Payload FSW team after OPS Request #17917 was executed to collect an EEPROM memory dump ACS FSW CS 4 02A will update the algorithm coefficients used to position the SBCFW and FW2 See HSTAR 10377 and ACS SCR 339/340 for more information

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