Notice: For the foreseeable future, the daily reports may
contain
apparent discrepancies between some proposal descriptions
and the listed
instrument usage. This is due to the conversion of
previously approved
ACS WFC or HRC observations into WFPC2, or NICMOS
observations
subsequent to the loss of ACS CCD science capability in
late January.
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class
Science
DAILY REPORT # 4340
PERIOD COVERED: UT April 12, 2007 (DOY 102)
OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED
WFPC2 10166
ACS and WFPC2 Stellar Photometry in the Kepler Mission
Target Field
We will observe three regions at the Galactic Equator {GE}
to determine
the number of stars in the magnitude range from 18 to 25
in the target
field of the NASA Kepler mission. This mission will search
for
Earth-size planets orbiting other stars. The field is a
twelve by twelve
degree square in Cygnus. It abuts the GE. The detection
technique is to
search photometrically for planetary transits. Faint
eclipsing binaries
that are not spatially resolved from the target star by
Kepler may cause
confusion, leading to false positive detections. The HST
is uniquely
capable of determining the potential magnitude of the
issue in the
region of the GE, where stellar densities are extremely
high.
NIC2 10858
NICMOS Imaging of the z ~ 2 Spitzer Spectroscopic Sample
of
Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies
We propose to obtain NICMOS images of the first large
sample of high-z
ultra-luminous infrared galaxies {ULIRGs} whose redshifts
and physical
states have been determined with Spitzer mid-IR spectra.
The detection
of strong silicate absorption and/or PAH emission lines
suggest that the
these sources are a mixture of highly obscured starbursts,
AGNs and
composite systems at z=2. Although some of the spectra
show PAH emission
similar to local starburst ULIRGs, their bolometric
luminosities are
roughly an order of magnitude higher. One important
question is if major
mergers, which are the trigger for 95% of local ULIRGs,
also drive this
enormous energy output observed in our z=2 sample. The
NICMOS images
will allow us to {1} measure surface brightness profiles
of z~2 ULIRGs
and establish if major mergers could be common among our
luminous
sources at these early epochs, {2} determine if starbursts
and AGNs
classified based on their mid-IR spetra would have
different
morphological signatures, thus different dynamic state;
{3} make
comparisons with the similar studies of ULIRGs at z ~ 0 -
1, thus infer
any evolutionary connections between high-z ULIRGs and the
formation of
normal, massive galaxies and quasars observed today.
NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 8795
NICMOS Post-SAA calibration - CR Persistence Part 6
A new proceedure proposed to alleviate the CR-persistence
problem of
NICMOS. Dark frames will be obtained immediately upon
exiting the SAA
contour 23, and everytime 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 i
mages. Each observation will need its own CRMAP, as
different SAA
passages leave different imprints on the NICMOS detectors.
NIC3 11082
NICMOS Imaging of GOODS: Probing the Evolution of the
Earliest Massive
Galaxies, Galaxies Beyond Reionization, and the High
Redshift Obscured
Universe
Deep near-infrared imaging provides the only avenue
towards
understanding a host of astrophysical problems, including:
finding
galaxies and AGN at z > 7, the evolution of the most
massive galaxies,
the triggering of star formation in dusty galaxies, and
revealing
properties of obscured AGN. As such, we propose to observe
60 selected
areas of the GOODS North and South fields with NICMOS
Camera 3 in the
F160W band pointed at known massive M > 10^11 M_0
galaxies at z > 2
discovered through deep Spitzer imaging. The depth we will
reach {26.5
AB at 5 sigma} in H_160 allows us to study the internal
properties of
these galaxies, including their sizes and morphologies,
and to
understand how scaling relations such as the Kormendy
relationship
evolved. Although NIC3 is out of focus and undersampled,
it is currently
our best opportunity to study these galaxies, while also
sampling enough
area to perform a general NIR survey 1/3 the size of an
ACS GOODS field.
These data will be a significant resource, invaluable for
many other
science goals, including discovering high redshift
galaxies at z > 7,
the evolution of galaxies onto the Hubble sequence, as
well as examining
obscured AGN and dusty star formation at z > 1.5. The
GOODS fields are
the natural location for HST to perform a deep NICMOS
imaging program,
as extensive data from space and ground based
observatories such as
Chandra, GALEX, Spitzer, NOAO, Keck, Subaru, VLT, JCMT,
and the VLA are
currently available for these regions. Deep
high-resolution
near-infrared observations are the one missing ingredient
to this
survey, filling in an important gap to create the deepest,
largest, and
most uniform data set for studying the faint and distant
universe. The
importance of these images will increase with time as new
facilities
come on line, most notably WFC3 and ALMA, and for the
planning of future
JWST observations.
WFPC2 10890
Morphologies of the Most Extreme High-Redshift
Mid-IR-Luminous Galaxies
The formative phase of the most massive galaxies may be
extremely
luminous, characterized by intense star- and
AGN-formation. Till now,
few such galaxies have been unambiguously identified at
high redshift,
restricting us to the study of low-redshift ultraluminous
infrared
galaxies as possible analogs. We have recently discovered
a sample of
objects which may indeed represent this early phase in
galaxy formation,
and are undertaking an extensive multiwavelength study of
this
population. These objects are bright at mid-IR wavelengths
{F[24um]>0.8mJy}, but deep ground based imaging
suggests extremely faint
{and in some cases extended} optical counterparts
{R~24-27}. Deep K-band
images show barely resolved galaxies. Mid-infrared
spectroscopy with
Spitzer/IRS reveals that they have redshifts z ~ 2-2.5,
suggesting
bolometric luminosities ~10^{13-14}Lsun! We propose to
obtain deep ACS
F814W and NIC2 F160W images of these sources and their
environs in order
to determine kpc-scale morphologies and surface photometry
for these
galaxies. The proposed observations will help us determine
whether these
extreme objects are merging systems, massive obscured
starbursts {with
obscuration on kpc scales!} or very reddened {locally
obscured} AGN
hosted by intrinsically low-luminosity galaxies.
WFPC2 11083
The Structure, Formation and Evolution of Galactic Cores and
Nuclei
A surprising result has emerged from the ACS Virgo Cluster
Survey
{ACSVCS}, a program to obtain ACS/WFC gz imaging for a
large, unbiased
sample of 100 early-type galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. On
subarcsecond
scales {i.e., <0.1"-1"}, the HST brightness
profiles vary systematically
from the brightest giants {which have nearly constant
surface brightness
cores} to the faintest dwarfs {which have compact stellar
nuclei}.
Remarkably, the fraction of galaxy mass contributed by the
nuclei in the
faint galaxies is identical to that contributed by
supermassive black
holes in the bright galaxies {0.2%}. These findings
strongly suggest
that a single mechanism is responsible for both types of
Central Massive
Object: most likely internally or externally modulated gas
inflows that
feed central black holes or lead to the formation of
"nuclear star
clusters". Understanding the history of gas
accretion, star formation
and chemical enrichment on subarcsecond scales has thus
emerged as the
single most pressing question in the study of nearby
galactic nuclei,
either active or quiescent. We propose an ambitious HST
program {199
orbits} that constitutes the next, obvious step forward:
high-resolution, ultraviolet {WFPC2/F255W} and infrared
{NIC1/F160W}
imaging for the complete ACSVCS sample. By capitalizing on
HST's unique
ability to provide high-resolution images with a sharp and
stable PSF at
UV and IR wavelengths, we will leverage the existing
optical HST data to
obtain the most complete picture currently possible for
the history of
star formation and chemical enrichment on these small
scales. Equally
important, this program will lead to a significant
improvement in the
measured structural parameters and density distributions
for the stellar
nuclei and the underlying galaxies, and provide a
sensitive measure of
"frosting" by young stars in the galaxy cores.
By virtue of its superb
image quality and stable PSF, NICMOS is the sole
instrument capable of
the IR observations proposed here. In the case of the WFPC2
observations, high-resolution UV imaging {< 0.1"}
is a capability unique
to HST, yet one that could be lost at any any time.
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 05
05
OBAD with Maneuver
26
26
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)