Date: December 24th 2009

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Daily Rpt #4997 - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/c028f44aa0da0385?hl=en
Daily Rpt #4998 - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/0e54ab84098b81c5?hl=en

============================================================================== TOPIC: Daily Rpt #4997

http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/c028f44aa0da0385?hl=en

== 1 of 1 == Date: Tues, Dec 22 2009 6:36Â am From: "Bassford, Lynn"

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #4997

PERIOD COVERED: 5am December 21 - 5am December 22, 2009 (DOY 355/10:00z-356/10:00z)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

ACS/WFC3 11879

CCD Daily Monitor (Part 1)

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 352 orbits (22 weeks) from 31 August 2009 to 31 January 2010

ACS/WFC3 11882

CCD Hot Pixel Annealing

All the data for this program is acquired using internal targets (lamps) only, so all of the exposures should be taken during Earth occultation time (but not during SAA passages) This program emulates the ACS pre-flight ground calibration and post launch SMOV testing (program 8948), so that results from each epoch can be directly compared Extended Pixel Edge Response (EPER) and First Pixel Response (FPR) data will be obtained over a range of signal levels for the Wide Field Channel (WFC) The High Resolution Channel (HRC) visits have been removed since it could not be repaired during SM4

COS/FUV 11541

COS-GTO: Cool, Warm, and Hot Gas in the Cosmic Web and in Galaxy Halos

COS G130M and G160M 20, 000 resolution observations will be obtained for 17 QSOs to study cool, warm and hot gas in the cosmic web and in galaxy halos 5 QSOs with z from 0 177 to 0 574 and sum z = 1 68 will be observed with S/N = 40-50 per resolution element 12 QSOs with z = 0 286 to 0 669 and sum z = 5 57 will be observed with S/N = 30-40 The observations will allow a wide range of IGM studies including determining the frequency of occurrence of the different types of absorption systems detected, along with studies of the physical conditions and elemental abundances in the different systems Special emphasis will be given to a study of the properties of highly ionized IGM as traced by O VI, O V, O IV, N V, and C IV The high S/N of the observations will allow a search for broad Lyman alpha absorption and weak metal line absorption that can be crucial for the evaluation of physical conditions and elemental abundances Supporting ground based observations will allow studies of the association of the absorbers with galaxy structures along the 17 lines of sight The overall goal of the program will be to obtain the information that will allow an assessment of the baryonic content of the IGM as revealed by UV and EUV absorption lines seen in the spectra of QSOs

COS/FUV 11625

Beyond the Classical Paradigm of Stellar Winds: Investigating Clumping, Rotation and the Weak Wind Problem in SMC O Stars

SMC O stars provide an unrivaled opportunity to probe star formation, evolution, and the feedback of massive stars in an environment similar to the epoch of the peak in star formation history Two recent breakthroughs in the study of hot, massive stars have important consequences for understanding the chemical enrichment and buildup of stellar mass in the Universe The first is the realization that rotation plays a major role in influencing the evolution of massive stars and their feedback on the surrounding environment The second is a drastic downward revision of the mass loss rates of massive stars coming from an improved description of their winds STIS spectroscopy of SMC O stars combined with state-of-the-art NLTE analyses has shed new light on these two topics A majority of SMC O stars reveal CNO-cycle processed material brought at their surface by rotational mixing Secondly, the FUV wind lines of early O stars provide strong indications of the clumped nature of their wind Moreover, we first drew attention to some late-O dwarfs showing extremely weak wind signatures Consequently, we have derived mass loss rates from STIS spectroscopy that are significantly lower than the current theoretical predictions used in evolutionary models Because of the limited size of the current sample (and some clear bias toward stars with sharp-lined spectra), these results must however be viewed as tentative Thanks to the high efficiency of COS in the FUV range, we propose now to obtain high-resolution FUV spectra with COS of a larger sample of SMC O stars to study systematically rotation and wind properties of massive stars at low metallicity The analysis of the FUV wind lines will be based on our 2D extension of CMFGEN to model axi-symmetric rotating winds

COS/FUV 11895

FUV Detector Dark Monitor

The purpose of this proposal is to 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/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

NIC2/STIS/CCD 10897

Coronagraphic Imaging of the Submillimeter Debris Disk of a 200Myr-Old M-Dwarf

A recent sub-millimeter survey has unambiguously discovered a new debris disk around the M0 5 dwarf GJ842 2 which is 200 Myr old Reanalysis of the IRAS data has shown that there is also a 25 micron excess toward this star indicating warm dust close to the star It is also only the second debris disk found among M-dwarfs that constitute 70 % of the stars in the Galaxy Collisional and Poynting-Roberston timescale arguments indicate that the cold grains detected in the sub-mm are "primordial'', i e original grains from the protoplanetary phase The disk around GJ842 2 is thus unique in terms of the presence of dust at such a late stage of evolution and presents two conundrums: why did it retain so much primordial dust at large distances, and why does it continue to produce dust close to the star? We propose to conduct high contrast NICMOS coronagraphic imaging of GJ842 2 to determine the spatial distribution of the small reflecting grains and test the various scenarios which might explain the IRAS and sub- mm data e g resonant trapping of dust by planets or ``sandblasting'' by interstellar medium grains working more aggressively on a low-luminosity star than on an A-type star like Beta Pic Also, we would search for an evolutionary sequence between GJ842 2 and the only other M-dwarf with a disk resolved by HST, the 10 Myr old AU Mic system

STIS/CCD 11844

CCD Dark Monitor Part 1

The purpose of this proposal is to monitor the darks for the STIS CCD

STIS/CCD 11846

CCD Bias Monitor-Part 1

The purpose of this proposal is to 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/IR/STIS/CCD 11653

SAINTS - Supernova 1987A INTensive Survey

SAINTS is a program to observe SN 1987A, the brightest supernova since 1604, as it matures into the youngest supernova remnant at age 21 HST is the essential tool for resolving SN1987A's many physical components A violent encounter is underway between the fastest-moving debris and the circumstellar ring: shocks excite "hotspots " Radio, optical, infrared and X-ray fluxes have been rising rapidly: we have organized Australia Telescope, HST, VLT, Spitzer, and Chandra observations to understand the several emission mechanisms at work Photons from the shocked ring will excite previously invisible gas outside the ring, revealing the true extent of the mass loss that preceded the explosion of Sanduleak -69 202 This will help test ideas for the progenitor of SN 1987A The inner debris, excited by radioactive isotopes from the explosion, is now resolved and seen to be aspherical, providing direct evidence on the shape of the explosion itself Questions about SN 1987A remain unanswered A rich and unbroken data set from SAINTS will help answer these central questions and will build an archive for the future to help answer questions we have not yet thought to ask

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/UVIS 11594

A WFC3 Grism Survey for Lyman Limit Absorption at z=2

We propose to conduct a spectroscopic survey of Lyman limit absorbers at redshifts 1 8 < z < 2 5, using WFC3 and the G280 grism This proposal intends to complete an approved Cycle 15 SNAP program (10878), which was cut short due to the ACS failure We have selected 64 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 0 < log(NHI) < 20 3 cm^-2 Second, we will measure the column density frequency distribution f(N) for the partial Lyman limit systems (PLLS) over the column density range 16 0 < log(NHI) < 17 5 cm^-2 Third, we will identify those sightlines which could provide a measurement of the primordial D/H ratio By carrying out this survey, we can also help place meaningful constraints on two key quantities of cosmological relevance First, we will estimate the amount of metals in the LLS using the f(N), and ground based observations of metal line transitions Second, by determining f(N) of the PLLS, we can constrain the amplitude of the ionizing UV background at z~2 to a greater precision This survey is ideal for a snapshot observing program, because the on-object integration times are all well below 30 minutes, and follow-up observations from the ground require minimal telescope time due to the QSO sample being bright

WFC3/UVIS 11730

Continued Proper Motions of the Magellanic Clouds: Orbits, Internal Kinematics, and Distance

In Cycles 11 and 13 we obtained two epochs of ACS/HRC data for fields in the Magellanic Clouds centered on background quasars We used these data to determine the proper motions of the LMC and SMC to better than 5% and 15% respectively The results had a number of unexpected implications for the Milky Way-LMC-SMC system and received considerable attention in the literature and in the press The implied three-dimensional velocities are larger than previously believed and close to the escape velocity in a standard 10^12 solar mass Milky Way dark halo Our orbit calculations suggest the Clouds may not be bound to the Milky Way or may just be on their first passage, both of which are unexpected in view of traditional interpretations of the Magellanic Stream Alternatively, the Milky Way dark halo may be a factor two more massive than previously believed, which would be surprising in view of other observational constraints Also, the relative velocity between the LMC and SMC was larger than expected, leaving open the possibility that the Clouds may not be bound to each other To further verify and refine our results we requested an additional epoch data in Cycle 16 which is being executed with WFPC2/PC due to the failure of ACS A detailed analysis of one LMC field shows that the field proper motion using all three epochs of data is consistent within 1-sigma with the two-epoch data, thus verifying that there are no major systematic effects in our previous measurements The random errors, however, are only smaller by a factor of 1 4 because of the relatively large errors in the WFPC2 data A prediction for a fourth epoch with measurement errors similar to epochs 1 and 2 shows that the uncertainties will improve by a factor of 3 This will allow us to better address whether the Clouds are indeed bound to each other and to the Milky Way It will also allow us to constrain the internal motions of various populations within the Clouds, and to determine a distance to the LMC using rotational parallax Continuation of this highly successful program is therefore likely to provide important additional insights Execution in SNAPshot mode guarantees maximally efficient use of HST resources

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

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 7 7 OBAD with Maneuver 3 3

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)

============================================================================== TOPIC: Daily Rpt #4998

http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/0e54ab84098b81c5?hl=en

== 1 of 1 == Date: Wed, Dec 23 2009 8:09Â am From: "Bassford, Lynn"

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #4998

PERIOD COVERED: 5am December 22 - 5am December 23, 2009 (DOY 356/10:00z-357/10:00z)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

ACS/WFC3 11138

The Physics of the Jets of Powerful Radio Galaxies and Quasars

We propose to obtain HST polarimetry of the jets of the quasars 1150+497 and PKS 1136-135 Our goal is to solve the riddle of their high-energy emission mechanism, and tackle issues such as particle acceleration and jet dynamics Our targets are the optically brightest quasar jets, and they span the range of luminosities and beaming parameters seen in these objects Recent observations with Spitzer, HST and Chandra have shed new light on the spectral morphology of quasar jets, throwing wide open the question of the nature of their optical and X-ray emission Three mechanisms are possible, including synchrotron emission as well as two Comptonization processes Polarimetry can uniquely determine which of these mechanisms operates in the optical We will compare the optical polarimetry to in-hand radio polarimetry as well as in-hand and new Spitzer, HST and Chandra imaging to gain new insights on the structure of these jets, as well as particle acceleration mechanisms and jet dynamics

COS/FUV 11625

Beyond the Classical Paradigm of Stellar Winds: Investigating Clumping, Rotation and the Weak Wind Problem in SMC O Stars

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/CCD 11844

CCD Dark Monitor Part 1

The purpose of this proposal is to monitor the darks for the STIS CCD

STIS/CCD 11846

CCD Bias Monitor-Part 1

The purpose of this proposal is to 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/MA2 11568

A SNAPSHOT Survey of the Local Interstellar Medium: New NUV Observations of Stars with Archived FUV Observations

We propose to obtain high-resolution STIS E230H SNAP observations of MgII and FeII interstellar absorption lines toward stars within 100 parsecs that already have moderate or high-resolution far-UV (FUV), 900-1700 A, observations available in the MAST Archive Fundamental properties, such as temperature, turbulence, ionization, abundances, and depletions of gas in the local interstellar medium (LISM) can be measured by coupling such observations Due to the wide spectral range of STIS, observations to study nearby stars also contain important data about the LISM embedded within their spectra However, unlocking this information from the intrinsically broad and often saturated FUV absorption lines of low-mass ions, (DI, CII, NI, OI), requires first understanding the kinematic structure of the gas along the line of sight This can be achieved with high resolution spectra of high-mass ions, (FeII, MgII), which have narrow absorption lines, and can resolve each individual velocity component (interstellar cloud) By obtaining short (~10 minute) E230H observations of FeII and MgII, for stars that already have moderate or high-resolution FUV spectra, we can increase the sample of LISM measurements, and thereby expand our knowledge of the physical properties of the gas in our galactic neighborhood STIS is the only instrument capable of obtaining the required high resolution data now or in the foreseeable future

WFC3/ACS/UVIS 11360

Star Formation in Nearby Galaxies

Star formation is a fundamental astrophysical process; it controls phenomena ranging from the evolution of galaxies and nucleosynthesis to the origins of planetary systems and abodes for life The WFC3, optimized at both UV and IR wavelengths and equipped with an extensive array of narrow-band filters, brings unique capabilities to this area of study The WFC3 Scientific Oversight Committee (SOC) proposes an integrated program on star formation in the nearby universe which will fully exploit these new abilities Our targets range from the well-resolved R136 in 30 Dor in the LMC (the nearest super star cluster) and M82 (the nearest starbursting galaxy) to about half a dozen other nearby galaxies that sample a wide range of star-formation rates and environments Our program consists of broad band multiwavelength imaging over the entire range from the UV to the near-IR, aimed at studying the ages and metallicities of stellar populations, revealing young stars that are still hidden by dust at optical wavelengths, and showing the integrated properties of star clusters Narrow-band imaging of the same environments will allow us to measure star-formation rates, gas pressure, chemical abundances, extinction, and shock morphologies The primary scientific issues to be addressed are: (1) What triggers star formation? (2) How do the properties of star-forming regions vary among different types of galaxies and environments of different gas densities and compositions? (3) How do these different environments affect the history of star formation? (4) Is the stellar initial mass function universal or determined by local conditions?

WFC3/IR/S/C 11929

IR Dark Current Monitor

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/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

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 5 5

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)

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