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 # 4321
PERIOD COVERED: UT March 16,17,18, 2007 (DOY 075,076,077)
OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED
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 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.
ACS/SBC 11074
ACS/SBC Darks in Support of Specific SBC Science
Observations
This program provides SBC DARK visits to be scheduled in
conjuction with
certain specific science observations which require the
SBC to be turned
on in the orbit preceeding the science observation.
ACS/SBC 11050
ACS UV contamination monitor
The observations consist of imaging and spectroscopy with
SBC of the
cluster NGC 6681 in order to monitor the temporal
evolution of the UV
sensitivity of the SBC.
FGS 10989
Astrometric Masses of Extrasolar Planets and Brown Dwarfs
We propose observations with HST/FGS to estimate the
astrometric
elements {perturbation orbit semi-major axis and
inclination} of
extra-solar planets orbiting six stars. These companions
were originally
detected by radial velocity techniques. We have demonstrated
that FGS
astrometry of even a short segment of reflex motion, when
combined with
extensive radial velocity information, can yield useful
inclination
information {McArthur et al. 2004}, allowing us to
determine companion
masses. Extrasolar planet masses assist in two ongoing
research
frontiers. First, they provide useful boundary conditions
for models of
planetary formation and evolution of planetary systems.
Second, knowing
that a star in fact has a plantary mass companion,
increases the value
of that system to future extrasolar planet observation
missions such as
SIM PlanetQuest, TPF, and GAIA.
NIC2 10906
The Fundamental Plane of Massive Gas-Rich Mergers: II. The
QUEST QSOs
We propose deep NICMOS H-band imaging of a carefully
selected sample of
23 local QSOs. This program is the last critical element
of a
comprehensive investigation of the most luminous mergers
in the nearby
universe, the ultraluminous infrared galaxies {ULIRGs} and
the quasars.
This effort is called QUEST: Quasar / ULIRG Evolutionary
STudy. The
high-resolution HST images of the QUEST QSOs will
complement an
identical set of images on the ULIRG sample obtained
during Cycle 12, an
extensive set of ground-based data that include long-slit
NIR spectra
from a Large VLT Program, and a large set of mid-infrared
spectra from a
Cycle 1 medium-size program with Spitzer. This unique
dataset will allow
us to derive with unprecedented precision structual,
kinematic, and
activity parameters for a large unbiased sample of objects
spanning the
entire ULIRG/QSO luminosity function. These data will
refine the
fundamental plane of massive gas-rich mergers and enable
us to answer
the following quesitons: {1} Do ultraluminous mergers form
elliptical
galaxies, and in particular, giant ellipticals? {2} Do
ULIRGs evolve
into optical bright QSOs? The results from this detailed
study of
massive mergers in the local universe will be relevant to
understanding
the basic physical processes involved in creating massive
early-type
host on the one hand, and growing/feeding embedded massive
black holes
on the other, in major galaxy mergers. This is an
important question
since 50% of cosmic star formation at high-z and most of
the big BHs
appear to be formed in this process.
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.
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}.
WFPC2 10815
The Blue Hook Populations of Massive Globular Clusters
Blue hook stars are a class of hot {~35,000 K} subluminous
horizontal
branch stars that have been recently discovered using HST
ultraviolet
images of the globular clusters omega Cen and NGC 2808.
These stars
occupy a region of the HR diagram that is unexplained by canonical
stellar evolution theory. Using new theoretical
evolutionary and
atmospheric models, we have shown that the blue hook stars
are very
likely the progeny of stars that undergo extensive
internal mixing
during a late helium core flash on the white dwarf cooling
curve. This
"flash mixing" produces an enormous enhancement
of the surface helium
and carbon abundances, which suppresses the flux in the
far ultraviolet.
Although flash mixing is more likely to occur in stars
that are born
with high helium abundances, a high helium abundance, by
itself, does
not explain the presence of a blue hook population - flash
mixing of the
envelope is required. We propose ACS ultraviolet
{SBC/F150LP and
HRC/F250W} observations of the five additional globular
clusters for
which the presence of blue hook stars is suspected from
longer
wavelength observations. Like omega Cen and NGC 2808,
these five targets
are also among the most massive globular clusters, because
less massive
clusters show no evidence for blue hook stars. Because our
targets span
1.5 dex in metallicity, we will be able to test our
prediction that
flash-mixing should be less drastic in metal-rich blue
hook stars. In
addition, our observations will test the hypothesis that
blue hook stars
only form in globular clusters massive enough to retain
the
helium-enriched ejecta from the first stellar generation.
If this
hypothesis is correct, then our observations will yield
important
constraints on the chemical evolution and early formation
history in
globular clusters, as well as the role of helium
self-enrichment in
producing blue horizontal branch morphologies and multiple
main sequence
turnoffs. Finally, our observations will provide new
insight into the
formation of the hottest horizontal branch stars, with
implications for
the origin of the hot helium-rich subdwarfs in the
Galactic field.
NIC2 10808
Morphologies of spectroscopically-confirmed "red and
dead" galaxies at
z~2.5
Using a combination of wide-field near-infrared imaging
and very deep
follow-up near- infrared spectroscopy we have identified a
population of
massive "red and dead" galaxies at z~2.5. The
galaxies lack emission
lines and have strong Balmer/4000 Angstrom breaks,
demonstrating
directly that they have evolved stellar populations. These
objects are
very likely progenitors of massive ellipticals today and
may be
descendants of the first generation of galaxies. We
propose to image 10
of these objects with the NIC2 camera to determine their
morphologies.
The goals are to 1} determine whether they have the sizes
of present-day
early-types or are more compact, as predicted by models,
2} determine
the morphology, using visual classification and
quantitative methods,
and 3} constrain the evolution of the Kormendy relation
from z~2.5 to
the present. These observations will show whether the
oldest and most
massive galaxies at z~2.5 were already fully formed or
still in the
process of assembly.
NIC2 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
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
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
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.
NIC2 10798
Dark Halos and Substructure from Arcs & Einstein Rings
The surface brightness distribution of extended
gravitationally lensed
arcs and Einstein rings contains super-resolved
information about the
lensed object, and, more excitingly, about the smooth and
clumpy mass
distribution of the lens galaxies. The source and lens
information can
non-parametrically be separated, resulting in a direct
"gravitational
image" of the inner mass-distribution of
cosmologically-distant galaxies
{Koopmans 2005; Koopmans et al. 2006 [astro-ph/0601628]}.
With this goal
in mind, we propose deep HST ACS-F555W/F814W and
NICMOS-F160W WFC
imaging of 20 new gravitational-lens systems with
spatially resolved
lensed sources, of the 35 new lens systems discovered by
the Sloan Lens
ACS Survey {Bolton et al. 2005} so far, 15 of which are
being imaged in
Cycle-14. Each system has been selected from the SDSS and
confirmed in
two time- efficient HST-ACS snapshot programs {cycle
13&14}.
High-fidelity multi-color HST images are required {not
delivered by the
420s snapshots} to isolate these lensed images {properly
cleaned,
dithered and extinction-corrected} from the lens galaxy
surface
brightness distribution, and apply our "gravitational
maging" technique.
Our sample of 35 early-type lens galaxies to date is by
far the largest,
still growing, and most uniformly selected. This minimizes
selection
biases and small-number statistics, compared to smaller,
often
serendipitously discovered, samples. Moreover, using the
WFC provides
information on the field around the lens, higher S/N and a
better
understood PSF, compared with the HRC, and one retains high
spatial
resolution through drizzling. The sample of galaxy mass
distributions -
determined through this method from the arcs and Einstein
ring HST
images - will be studied to: {i} measure the smooth mass
distribution of
the lens galaxies {dark and luminous mass are separated
using the HST
images and the stellar M/L values derived from a joint
stellar-dynamical
analysis of each system}; {ii} quantify statistically and
individually
the incidence of mass-substructure {with or without
obvious luminous
counter-parts such as dwarf galaxies}. Since dark-matter
substructure
could be more prevalent at higher redshift, both results
provide a
direct test of this prediction of the CDM hierarchical
structure-formation model.
FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are
preliminary reports
of potential non-nominal performance that will be
investigated.)
HSTARS:
10742 - GSACQ(1,2,1) failed, Search Radius Limit Exceeded
on FGS 1
GSACQ(1,2,1) at 076/13:19:37 failed due to Search Radius Limit Exceeded
on
FGS 1 at 13:25:27. OBAD data prior to GSACQ showed RSS attitude
correction of 6.27 arcseconds, OBAD map after GSACQ failure showed RSS
error of 2.09 arcseconds.
REACQ(1,2,1) at 14:52:52 also failed with search radius limit exceeded
on
FGS 1.
All subsequent REACQ(1,2,1)s at 16:28:45, 18:04:39, 19:40:33 and
21:16:26 failed.
10744 - REAcq (1,2,1) failed due to Search Radius Limit
Exceeded on FGS 1
At
AOS 076/23:53:35, REAcq (1,2,1) scheduled from 22:53:02-23:00:25 had
failed due to search radius limit exceeded on FGS 1.
COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)
COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)
SCHEDULED
SUCCESSFUL
FGS
GSacq
22
21
FGS REacq
19
13
OBAD with Maneuver
80
80
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)