Date: June 11th 2010

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Daily Report #5113 - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/7cf9ada99bc5b82f?hl=en
Daily Report #5114 - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/5a88dff44bc44f43?hl=en

============================================================================== TOPIC: Daily Report #5113

http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/7cf9ada99bc5b82f?hl=en

== 1 of 1 == Date: Wed, Jun 9 2010 8:00Ã‚Â am From: "Cooper, Joe"

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #5113

PERIOD COVERED: 5am June 8 - 5am June 9, 2010 (DOY 159/09:00z-160/09:00z)

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

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

HSTARS:

12298 - GSAcq(2,1,1) at 159/19:19:42z resulted in fine lock back-up on FGS1 due to scan step limit exceeded on FGS2

Observations possibly affected: COS 37- 41, Proposal ID#11687

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

                  SCHEDULED   SUCCESSFUL

FGS GSAcq 10 10 FGS REAcq 6 6 OBAD with Maneuver 7 7

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED:

ACS/WFC 11882

CCD Hot Pixel Annealing

This program continues the monthly anneal that has taken place every four weeks for the last three cycles We now obtain WFC biases and darks before and after the anneal in the same sequence as is done for the ACS daily monitor (now done 4 times per week) So the anneal observation supplements the monitor observation sets during the appropriate week 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) 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 The High Resolution Channel (HRC) visits have been removed since it could not be repaired during SM4

This program also assesses the read noise, bias structure, and amplifier cross-talk of ACS/WFC using the GAIN=1 4 A/D conversion setting This investigation serves as a precursor to a more comprehensive study of WFC performance using GAIN=1 4

ACS/WFC 11995

CCD Daily Monitor (Part 2)

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 320 orbits (20 weeks) from 1 February 2010 to 20 June 2010

ACS/WFC/WFC3/IR 11663

Formation and Evolution of Massive Galaxies in the Richest Environments at 1 5 < z < 2 0

We propose to image seven 1 5

ACS/WFC/WFC3/UVI 11613

GHOSTS: Stellar Outskirts of Massive Spiral Galaxies

We propose to continue our highly successful GHOSTS HST survey of the resolved stellar populations of nearby, massive disk galaxies using SNAPs These observations provide star counts and color-magnitude diagrams 2-3 magnitudes below the tip of the Red Giant Branch of the outer disk and halo of each galaxy We will measure the metallicity distribution functions and stellar density profiles from star counts down to very low average surface brightnesses, equivalent to ~32 V-mag per square arcsec

This proposal will substantially improve our unique sampling of galaxy outskirts Our targets cover a range in galaxy mass, luminosity, inclination, and morphology As function of these galaxy properties this survey provides: - the most extensive, systematic measurement of radial light profiles and axial ratios of the diffuse stellar halos and outer disks of spiral galaxies; - a comprehensive analysis of halo metallicity distributions as function of galaxy type and position within the galaxy; - an unprecedented study of the stellar metallicity and age distribution in the outer disk regions where the disk truncations occur; - the first comparative study of globular clusters and their field stellar populations

We will use these fossil records of the galaxy assembly process to test halo formation models within the hierarchical galaxy formation scheme

COS/FUV 11687

SNAPing Coronal Iron

This is a Snapshot Survey to explore two forbidden lines of highly ionized iron in late-type coronal sources Fe XII 1349 (T~ 2 MK) and Fe XXI 1354 (T~ 10 MK) -- well known to Solar Physics -- have been detected in about a dozen cool stars, mainly with HST/STIS The UV coronal forbidden lines are important because they can be observed with velocity resolution of better than 15 km/s, whereas even the state-of-the-art X-ray spectrometers on Chandra can manage only 300 km/s in the kilovolt band where lines of highly ionized iron more commonly are found The kinematic properties of hot coronal plasmas, which are of great interest to theorists and modelers, thus only are accessible in the UV at present The bad news is that the UV coronal forbidden lines are faint, and were captured only in very deep observations with STIS The good news is that 3rd-generation Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, slated for installation in HST by SM4, in a mere 25 minute exposure with its G130M mode can duplicate the sensitivity of a landmark 25-orbit STIS E140M observation of AD Leo, easily the deepest such exposure of a late-type star so far Our goal is to build up understanding of the properties of Fe XII and Fe XXI in additional objects beyond the current limited sample: how the lineshapes depend on activity, whether large scale velocity shifts can be detected, and whether the dynamical content of the lines can be inverted to map the spatial morphology of the stellar corona (as in "Doppler Imaging'') In other words, we want to bring to bear in the coronal venue all the powerful tricks of spectroscopic remote sensing, well in advance of the time that this will be possible exploiting the corona's native X-ray radiation The 1290-1430 band captured by side A of G130M also contains a wide range of key plasma diagnostics that form at temperatures from below 10, 000 K (neutral lines of CNO), to above 200, 000 K (semi-permitted O V 1371), including the important bright multiplets of C II at 1335 and Si IV at 1400; yielding a diagnostic gold mine for the subcoronal atmosphere Because of the broad value of the SNAP spectra, beyond the coronal iron project, we waive the normal proprietary rights

COS/NUV 11705

Physical Properties of Quasar Outflows: From BALs to mini-BALs

Accretion disk outflows are important components of quasar environments They might play a major role in facilitating accretion, regulating star formation in the host galaxies and distributing metals to the surrounding gas They reveal themselves most conspicuously via broad absorption lines (BALs), but they appear even more frequently in other guises such as the weaker and narrower mini-BALs '' How are these diverse outflow features related? Are mini-BALs really justmini'' versions of the BALs, or do they represent a fundamentally different type of outflow, with different degrees of ionization, column densities, mass loss rates, physical origins, etc ?

We propose HST-COS spectroscopy to make the first quantitative assessment of the outflow physical conditions across the full range of weak/narrow mini-BALs to strong/broad BALs Our strategy is to measure key diagnostic lines (SVI, OVI, CIII, SIV, PV, etc ) at 930A - 1130A (rest-frame) in a sample of 7 outflow quasars with known mini-BALs through weak BALs We will then 1) combine the COS data with ground-based spectra of the same quasars to include more lines (CIV, SiIV) at longer wavelengths, and 2) include in our analysis a nearly identical UV/optical dataset obtained previously for a sample of quasars with strong BALs Our study of this combined dataset will be an essential next step toward a more global understanding of quasar outflows

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

WFC3/IR 11666

Chilly Pairs: A Search for the Latest-type Brown Dwarf Binaries and the Prototype Y Dwarf

We propose to use HST/NICMOS to image a sample of 27 of the nearest (< 20 pc) and lowest luminosity T-type brown dwarfs in order to identify and characterize new very low mass binary systems Only 3 late-type T dwarf binaries have been found to date, despite that fact that these systems are critical benchmarks for evolutionary and atmospheric models at the lowest masses They are also the most likely systems to harbor Y dwarf companions, an as yet unpopulated putative class of very cold (T < 600 K) brown dwarfs Our proposed program will more than double the number of T5-T9 dwarfs imaged at high resolution, with an anticipated yield of ~5 new binaries with initial characterization of component spectral types We will be able to probe separations sufficient to identify systems suitable for astrometric orbit and dynamical mass measurements We also expect one of our discoveries to contain the first Y-type brown dwarf Our proposed program complements and augments ongoing ground-based adaptive optics surveys and provides pathway science for JWST

WFC3/IR 11696

Infrared Survey of Star Formation Across Cosmic Time

We propose to use the unique power of WFC3 slitless spectroscopy to measure the evolution of cosmic star formation from the end of the reionization epoch at z>6 to the close of the galaxy-building era at z~0 3 Pure parallel observations with the grisms have proven to be efficient for identifying line emission from galaxies across a broad range of redshifts The G102 grism on WFC3 was designed to extend this capability to search for Ly-alpha emission from the first galaxies Using up to 250 orbits of pure parallel WFC3 spectroscopy, we will observe about 40 deep (4-5 orbit) fields with the combination of G102 and G141, and about 20 shallow (2-3 orbit) fields with G141 alone

Our primary science goals at the highest redshifts are: (1) Detect Lya in ~100 galaxies with z>5 6 and measure the evolution of the Lya luminosity function, independent of of cosmic variance; 2) Determine the connection between emission-line selected and continuum-break selected galaxies at these high redshifts, and 3) Search for the proposed signature of neutral hydrogen absorption at re-ionization At intermediate redshifts we will (4) Detect more than 1000 galaxies in Halpha at 0 5

To identify single-line Lya emitters, we will exploit the wide 0 8--1 9um wavelength coverage of the combined G102+G141 spectra All [OII] and [OIII] interlopers detected in G102 will be reliably separated from true LAEs by the detection of at least one strong line in the G141 spectrum, without the need for any ancillary data We waive all proprietary rights to our data and will make high-level data products available through the ST/ECF

WFC3/IR 11735

The LSD project: dynamics, merging and stellar populations of a sample of well-studied LBGs at z~3

A large observational effort with the ground-based ESO/VLT telescopes allowed us to obtain deep, spatially-resolved, near-IR spectra of complete sample of 11 Lyman-Break Galaxies at z~3 1 These observations were used to obtain, for the first time, the metallicity and the dynamical properties of a sample of objects that, albeit small, is representative of the total population of the LBGs We propose to use HST to obtain high-resolution optical and near-IR images of this sample of LBGs in order to study the broad-band morphology and the stellar light distribution of these galaxies These images, exploiting the superior spatial resolution of HST images and the low-background : 1- will allow a precise measure of the dynamical mass from the velocity field derived with spectroscopy; 2- will permit a comparison of the distribution of star formation (from the line emission) with the underlying stellar population, and, 3- will be used to check if the complex velocity field and the multiple line-emitting regions detected in most targets can be ascribed to on-going mergers This accurate study will shed light on a number of unsolved problems still affecting the knowledge of the LBGs

WFC3/IR/WFC3/UVI 11557

The Nature of low-ionization BAL QSOs

The rare subclass of optically-selected QSOs known as low-ionization broad absorption line (LoBAL) QSOs show signs of high-velocity gas outflows and reddened continua indicative of dust obscuration Recent studies show that galaxies hosting LoBAL QSOs tend to be ultraluminous infrared systems that are undergoing mergers, and that have dominant young (< 100 Myr) stellar populations Such studies support the idea that LoBAL QSOs represent a short-lived phase early in the life of QSOs, when powerful AGN-driven winds are blowing away the dust and gas surrounding the QSO If so, understanding LoBALs would be critical in the study of phenomena regulating black hole and galaxy evolution, such as AGN feedback and the early stages of nuclear accretion These results, however, come from very small samples that may have serious selection biases We are therefore taking a more aggressive approach by conducting a systematic multiwavelength study of a volume limited sample of LoBAL QSOs at 0 5 < z < 0 6 drawn from SDSS We propose to image their host galaxies in two bands using WFC3/UVIS and WFC3/IR to study the morphologies for signs of recent tidal interactions and to map their interaction and star forming histories We will thus determine whether LoBAL QSOs are truly exclusively found in young merging systems that are likely to be in the early stages of nuclear accretion

WFC3/UVI 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/UVI 11697

Proper Motion Survey of Classical and SDSS Local Group Dwarf Galaxies

Using the superior resolution of HST, we propose to continue our proper motion survey of Galactic dwarf galaxies The target galaxies include one classical dwarf, Leo II, and six that were recently identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data: Bootes I, Canes Venatici I, Canes Venatici II, Coma Berenices, Leo IV, and Ursa Major II We will observe a total of 16 fields, each centered on a spectroscopically- confirmed QSO Using QSOs as standards of rest in measuring absolute proper motions has proven to be the most accurate and most efficient method HST is our only option to quickly determine the space motions of the SDSS dwarfs because suitable ground-based imaging is only a few years old and such data need several decades to produce a proper motion The two most distant galaxies in our sample will require time baselines of four years to achieve our goal of a 30-50 km/s uncertainty in the tangential velocity; given this and the finite lifetime of HST, it is imperative that first-epoch observations be taken in this cycle The SDSS dwarfs have dramatically lower surface brightnesses and luminosities than the classical dwarfs Proper motions are crucial for determining orbits of the galaxies and knowing the orbits will allow us to test theories for the formation and evolution of these galaxies and, more generally, for the formation of the Local Group

WFC3/UVI 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 (11909), will be used to generate the necessary superbias
and superdark reference files for the calibration pipeline (CDBS)

============================================================================== TOPIC: Daily Report #5114

http://groups google com/group/sci astro hubble/t/5a88dff44bc44f43?hl=en

== 1 of 1 == Date: Thurs, Jun 10 2010 8:08Ã‚Â am From: "Cooper, Joe"

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #5114

PERIOD COVERED: 5am June 9 - 5am June 10, 2010 (DOY 160/09:00z-161/09:00z)

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 5 5 FGS REAcq 10 10 OBAD with Maneuver 2 2

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED:

ACS/WFC 11995

CCD Daily Monitor (Part 2)

ACS/WFC3 11882

CCD Hot Pixel Annealing

COS/NUV 11705

Physical Properties of Quasar Outflows: From BALs to Mini-BALs

Accretion disk outflows are important components of quasar environments They might play a major role in facilitating accretion, regulating star formation in the host galaxies and distributing metals to the surrounding gas They reveal themselves most conspicuously via broad absorption lines (BALs), but they appear even more frequently in other guises such as the weaker and narrower "mini-BALs " How are these diverse outflow features related? Are mini-BALs really just "mini" versions of the BALs, or do they represent a fundamentally different type of outflow, with different degrees of ionization, column densities, mass loss rates, physical origins, etc ?

We propose HST-COS spectroscopy to make the first quantitative assessment of the outflow physical conditions across the full range of weak/narrow mini-BALs to strong/broad BALs Our strategy is to measure key diagnostic lines (SVI, OVI, CIII, SIV, PV, etc ) at 930A - 1130A (rest- frame) in a sample of 7 outflow quasars with known mini-BALs through weak BALs We will then 1) combine the COS data with ground-based spectra of the same quasars to include more lines (CIV, SiIV) at longer wavelengths, and 2) include in our analysis a nearly identical UV/optical dataset obtained previously for a sample of quasars with strong BALs Our study of this combined dataset will be an essential next step toward a more global understanding of quasar outflows

COS/NUV/FUV 11727

UV Spectroscopy of Local Lyman Break Galaxy Analogs: New Clues to Galaxy Formation in the Early Universe

Much of our information about galaxy evolution and the interaction between galaxies and the IGM at high-z has been provided by the Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) However, it is difficult to investigate these faint and distant objects in detail To address this, we have used the GALEX All-Sky Imaging Survey and the SDSS to identify for the first time a rare population of low- redshift galaxies with properties remarkably similar to the high-redshift LBGs These local "Lyman Break Analogs" (LBAs) resemble LBGs in terms of morphology, size, UV luminosity, star formation rate, UV surface brightness, stellar mass, velocity dispersion, metallicity, and dust content We are assembling a wide range of data on these objects with the goal of using them as local laboratories for better understanding the relevant astrophysical processes in LBGs These data include HST imaging (95 orbits in Cy15 and 16), Spitzer photometry and spectroscopy, Chandra and XMM X-ray imaging and spectroscopy, and near-IR integral field spectroscopy (VLT, Keck, and Gemini) In this proposal we are requesting the most important missing puzzle piece: far-UV spectra with a signal-to-noise and spectral resolution significantly better than available for typical LBGs We will use these spectra to study the LBA's galactic winds, probe the processes that regulate the escape of Ly-a and Lyman continuum radiation, determine chemical abundances for the stars and gas, and constrain the form of the high-end of the Initial Mass Function Adding these new COS data will give us vital information about these extraordinary sites of star formation in the local universe In so-doing it will also shed new light on the processes that led to the formation of stars, the building of galaxies, and the enrichment and heating of the IGM in the early universe

STIS/CC 11845

CCD Dark Monitor Part 2

Monitor the darks for the STIS CCD

STIS/CC 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

WFC3/IR 11696

Infrared Survey of Star Formation Across Cosmic Time

We propose to use the unique power of WFC3 slitless spectroscopy to measure the evolution of cosmic star formation from the end of the reionization epoch at z>6 to the close of the galaxy- building era at z~0 3 Pure parallel observations with the grisms have proven to be efficient for identifying line emission from galaxies across a broad range of redshifts The G102 grism on WFC3 was designed to extend this capability to search for Ly-alpha emission from the first galaxies Using up to 250 orbits of pure parallel WFC3 spectroscopy, we will observe about 40 deep (4-5 orbit) fields with the combination of G102 and G141, and about 20 shallow (2-3 orbit) fields with G141 alone

Our primary science goals at the highest redshifts are: (1) Detect Lya in ~100 galaxies with z>5 6 and measure the evolution of the Lya luminosity function, independent of of cosmic variance; 2) Determine the connection between emission line selected and continuum-break selected galaxies at these high redshifts, and 3) Search for the proposed signature of neutral hydrogen absorption at re-ionization At intermediate redshifts we will (4) Detect more than 1000 galaxies in Halpha at 0 5

WFC3/IR 11719

A Calibration Database for Stellar Models of Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars

Studies of galaxy formation and evolution rely increasingly on the interpretation and modeling of near-infrared observations At these wavelengths, the brightest stars are intermediate mass asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars These stars can contribute nearly 50% of the integrated luminosity at near infrared and even optical wavelengths, particularly for the younger stellar populations characteristic of high-redshift galaxies (z>1) AGB stars are also significant sources of dust and heavy elements Accurate modeling of AGB stars is therefore of the utmost importance

The primary limitation facing current models is the lack of useful calibration data Current models are tuned to match the properties of the AGB population in the Magellanic Clouds, and thus have only been calibrated in a very narrow range of sub-solar metallicities Preliminary observations already suggest that the models are overestimating AGB lifetimes by factors of 2-3 at lower metallicities At higher (solar) metallicities, there are no appropriate observations for calibrating the models

We propose a WFC3/IR SNAP survey of nearby galaxies to create a large database of AGB populations spanning the full range of metallicities and star formation histories Because of their intrinsically red colors and dusty circumstellar envelopes, tracking the numbers and bolometric fluxes of AGB stars requires the NIR observations we propose here The resulting observations of nearby galaxies with deep ACS imaging offer the opportunity to obtain large (100-1000's) complete samples of AGB stars at a single distance, in systems with well-constrained star formation histories and metallicities

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/UV 12019

After the Fall: Fading AGN in Post-starburst Galaxies

We propose joint Chandra and HST observations of an extraordinary sample of 12 massive post-starburst galaxies at z=0 4-0 8 that are in the short-lived evolution phase a few 100 Myr after the peak of merger-driven star formation and AGN activity We will use the data to measure X-ray luminosities, black hole masses, and accretion rates; and with the accurate "clocks" provided by post-starburst stellar populations, we will directly test theoretical models that predict a power-law decay in the AGN light curve We will also test whether star formation and black hole accretion shut down in lock-step, quantify whether the black holes transition to radiatively inefficient accretion states, and constrain the observational signatures of black hole mergers

WFC3/UVIS 11595

Turning Out the Light: A WFC3 Program to Image z>2 Damped Lyman Alpha Systems

We propose to directly image the star-forming regions of z>2 damped Lya systems (DLAs) using the WFC3/UVIS camera on the Hubble Space Telescope In contrast to all previous attempts to detect the galaxies giving rise to high redshift DLAs, we will use a novel technique that completely removes the glare of the background quasar Specifically, we will target quasar sightlines with multiple DLAs and use the higher redshift DLA as a ``blocking filter'' (via Lyman limit absorption) to eliminate all FUV emission from the quasar This will allow us to carry out a deep search for FUV emission from the lower redshift DLA, shortward of the Lyman limit of the higher redshift absorber The unique filter set and high spatial resolution afforded by WFC3/UVIS will then enable us to directly image the lower redshift DLA and thus estimate its size, star- formation rate and impact parameter from the QSO sightline We propose to observe a sample of 20 sightlines, selected primarily from the SDSS database, requiring a total of 40 HST orbits The observations will allow us to determine the first FUV luminosity function of high redshift DLA galaxies and to correlate the DLA galaxy properties with the ISM characteristics inferred from standard absorption-line analysis to significantly improve our understanding of the general DLA population

WFC3/UVIS 11697

Proper Motion Survey of Classical and SDSS Local Group Dwarf Galaxies

Using the superior resolution of HST, we propose to continue our proper motion survey of Galactic dwarf galaxies The target galaxies include one classical dwarf, Leo II, and six that were recently identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data: Bootes I, Canes Venatici I, Canes Venatici II, Coma Berenices, Leo IV, and Ursa Major II We will observe a total of 16 fields, each centered on a spectroscopically-confirmed QSO Using QSOs as standards of rest in measuring absolute proper motions has proven to be the most accurate and most efficient method HST is our only option to quickly determine the space motions of the SDSS dwarfs because suitable ground-based imaging is only a few years old and such data need several decades to produce a proper motion The two most distant galaxies in our sample will require time baselines of four years to achieve our goal of a 30-50 km/s uncertainty in the tangential velocity; given this and the finite lifetime of HST, it is imperative that first-epoch observations be taken in this cycle The SDSS dwarfs have dramatically lower surface brightnesses and luminosities than the classical dwarfs Proper motions are crucial for determining orbits of the galaxies and knowing the orbits will allow us to test theories for the formation and evolution of these galaxies and, more generally, for the formation of the Local Group

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/IR 11700

Bright Galaxies at z>7 5 with a WFC3 Pure Parallel Survey

The epoch of reionization represents a special moment in the history of the Universe as it is during this era that the first galaxies and star clusters are formed Reionization also profoundly affects the environment where subsequent generations of galaxies evolve Our overarching goal is to test the hypothesis that galaxies are responsible for reionizing neutral hydrogen To do so we propose to carry out a pure parallel WFC3 survey to constrain the bright end of the redshift z>7 5 galaxy luminosity function on a total area of 176 arcmin^2 of sky Extrapolating the evolution of the luminosity function from z~6, we expect to detect about 20 Lyman Break Galaxies brighter than M_* at z~8 significantly improving the current sample of only a few galaxies known at these redshifts Finding significantly fewer objects than predicted on the basis of extrapolation from z=6 would set strong limits to the brightness of M_*, highlighting a fast evolution of the luminosity function with the possible implication that galaxies alone cannot reionize the Universe Our observations will find the best candidates for spectroscopic confirmation, that is bright z>7 5 objects, which would be missed by small area deeper surveys The random pointing nature of the program is ideal to beat cosmic variance, especially severe for luminous massive galaxies, which are strongly clustered In fact our survey geometry of 38 independent fields will constrain the luminosity function like a contiguous single field survey with two times more area at the same depth Lyman Break Galaxies at z>7 5 down to m_AB=26 85 (5 sigma) in F125W will be selected as F098M dropouts, using three to five orbits visits that include a total of four filters (F606W, F098M, F125W, F160W) optimized to remove low-redshift interlopers and cool stars Our data will be highly complementary to a deep field search for high- z galaxies aimed at probing the faint end of the luminosity function, allowing us to disentangle the degeneracy between faint end slope and M_* in a Schechter function fit of the luminosity function We waive proprietary rights for the data In addition, we commit to release the coordinates and properties of our z>7 5 candidates within one month from the acquisition of each field

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