HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT       # 4308

PERIOD COVERED: UT February 27, 2007 (DOY 058)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

ACS/SBC 10862

Comprehensive Auroral Imaging of Jupiter and Saturn during the

International Heliophysical Year

A comprehensive set of observations of the auroral emissions from

Jupiter and Saturn is proposed for the International Heliophysical Year

in 2007, a unique period of especially concentrated measurements of

space physics phenomena throughout the solar system. We propose to

determine the physical relationship of the various auroral processes at

Jupiter and Saturn with conditions in the solar wind at each planet.

This can be accomplished with campaigns of observations, with a sampling

interval not to exceed one day, covering at least one solar rotation.

The solar wind plasma density approaching Jupiter will be measured by

the New Horizons spacecraft, and a separate campaign near opposition in

May 2007 will determine the effect of large-scale variations in the

interplanetary magnetic field {IMF} on the Jovian aurora by

extrapolation from near-Earth solar wind measurements. A similar Saturn

campaign near opposition in Jan. 2007 will combine extrapolated solar

wind data with measurements from a wide range of locations within the

Saturn magnetosphere by Cassini. In the course of making these

observations, it will be possible to fully map the auroral footprints of

Io and the other satellites to determine both the local magnetic field

geometry and the controlling factors in the electromagnetic interaction

of each satellite with the corotating magnetic field and plasma density.

Also in the course of making these observations, the auroral emission

properties will be compared with the properties of the near-IR

ionospheric emissions {from ground-based observations} and non thermal

radio emissions, from ground-based observations for Jupiter?s decametric

radiation and Cassini plasma wave measurements of the Saturn Kilometric

Radiation {SKR}.

NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 8794

NICMOS Post-SAA calibration - CR Persistence Part 5

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.

NIC3 11080

Exploring the Scaling Laws of Star Formation

As a variety of surveys of the local and distant Universe are

approaching a full census of galaxy populations, our attention needs to

turn towards understanding and quantifying the physical mechanisms that

trigger and regulate the large-scale star formation rates {SFRs} in

galaxies.

NIC3 11082

NICMOS Imaging of GOODS: Probing the Evolution of the Earliest Massive

Galaxies, Galaxies Beyond

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 10871

Observations of the Galilean Satellites in Support of the New Horizons

Flyby

On February 28 2007 the New Horizons {NH} spacecraft will fly by Jupiter

on its way to Pluto, and will conduct an extensive series of

observations of the Jupiter system, including the Galilean satellites.

We propose HST observations to support and complement the New Horizons

observations in four ways: 1} Determine the distribution and variability

of Io's plumes in the two weeks before NH closest approach, to look for

correlations with Io- derived dust streams that may be detected by New

Horizons, to understand the origin of the dust streams; 2} Imaging of

SO2 and S2 gas absorption in Io's plumes in Jupiter transit, which

cannot be done by NH; 3} Color imaging of Io's surface to determine the

effects of the plumes and volcanos seen by New Horizons on the surface-

New Horizons cannot image the sunlit surface in color due to saturation;

4} Imaging of far-UV auroral emissions from the atmospheres of Io,

Europa, and Ganymede in Jupiter eclipse, near- simultaneously with

disk-integrated NH UV spectra, to locate the source of the UV emissions

seen by NH and use the response of the satellite atmospheres to the

eclipse to constrain production mechanisms.

WFPC2 11096

Hubble Heritage imaging of Jupiter during the New Horizons encounter HST

Proposal 11096

WFPC2 images of Jupiter in Feb 2007 in support of New Horizons flyby of

Jupiter. This Hubble Heritage DD program is working in concert with the

existing GO programs by John Clarke {10862} and John Spencer {10871}.

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:

18022-2 - Re-Enable Aero Torque Compensation

17966-0 - Monitor FHST Sanity Check via TMDIAG Slots 0 -2

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

                        SCHEDULED      SUCCESSFUL 

FGS GSacq               09                   09             

FGS REacq               05                   05              

OBAD with Maneuver 28                   28               

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:

Execution of Ops Request 18022-2 was completed at 058/22:37, re-enabling

the aerodynamic torque compensation. Vehicle pointing control

performance was nominal, and the guide star acquisition at 058/23:25

succeeded normally.