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    # 4381

PERIOD COVERED: UT June 11, 2007 (DOY 162)

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}.

WFPC2 10880

The host galaxies of QSO2s: AGN feeding and evolution at high

luminosities

Now that the presence of supermassive black holes in the nuclei of

galaxies is a well established fact, other questions related to the AGN

phenomena still have to be answered. Problems of particular interest are

how the AGN gets fed, how the black hole evolves and how the evolution

of the black hole is related to the evolution of the galaxy bulge. Here

we propose to address some of these issues using ACS/WFC + F775W

snapshot images of 73 QSO2s with redshifts in the range 0.3<z<0.4. These

observations will be combined with similar archival data of QSO1s and

ground based data of Seyfert and normal galaxies. First, we will

intestigate whether interactions are the most important feeding

mechanism in high luminosity AGNs. This will be done in a quantitative

way, comparing the asymmetry indices of QSO2 hosts with those of lower

luminosity AGNs and normal galaxies. Second, we will do a detailed study

of the morphology of the host galaxies of both QSO types, to determine

if they are similar, or if there is an evolutionary trend from QSO2s to

QSO1s. The results from this project will represent an important step in

the understanding of AGN evolution, and may also introduce a substantial

modification to the Unified Model.

WFPC2 11024

WFPC2 CYCLE 15 INTERNAL MONITOR

This calibration proposal is the Cycle 15 routine internal monitor for

WFPC2, to be run weekly to monitor the health of the cameras. A variety

of internal exposures are obtained in order to provide a monitor of the

integrity of the CCD camera electronics in both bays {both gain 7 and

gain 15 -- to test stability of gains and bias levels}, a test for

quantum efficiency in the CCDs, and a monitor for possible buildup of

contaminants on the CCD windows. These also provide raw data for

generating annual super-bias reference files for the calibration

pipeline.

FGS 10928

Calibrating Cosmological Chronometers: White Dwarf Masses

We propose to use HST/FGS1R to determine White Dwarf {WD} masses. The

unmatched resolving power of HST/FGS1R will be utilized to follow up

four selected WD binary pairs. This high precision obtained with

HST/FGS1R simply cannot be equaled by any ground based technique. This

proposed effort complements that done by CoI Nelan in which a sample of

WDs is being observed with HST/FGS1R. This proposal will dramatically

increase the number of WDs for which dynamical mass measurements are

possible, enabling a better calibration of the WD mass-radius relation,

cooling curves, initial to final mass relations, and ultimately giving

important clues to the star formation history of our Galaxy and the age

of its disk as well as in other galaxies.

NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 11313

Special NICMOS/WFPC program to investigate effects of NICMOS internal

lamp on WFPC exposures

We intend to obtain a large set of NICMOS flat-fields in parallel to

WFPC observations in coming periods. This one orbit test program will

investigate the effects of having the NICMOS lamps turned on during

WFPC2 observations. To test this we use the brighest NICMOS internal

lamp {LAMP 1} while taking a long {~1000 sec} WFPC exposure in F814W

filter. An identical exposure is thereafter taken with the lamp turned

off.

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.

WFPC2 11023

WFPC2 CYCLE 15 Standard Darks - part 1

This dark calibration program obtains dark frames every week in order to

provide data for the ongoing calibration of the CCD dark current rate,

and to monitor and characterize the evolution of hot pixels. Over an

extended period these data will also provide a monitor of radiation

damage to the CCDs.

WFPC2 11079

Treasury Imaging of Star Forming Regions in the Local Group:

Complementing the GALEX and NOAO Surveys

We propose to use WFPC2 to image the most interesting star-forming

regions in the Local Group galaxies, to resolve their young stellar

populations. We will use a set of filters including F170W, which is

critical to detect and characterize the most massive stars, to whose hot

temperatures colors at longer wavelengths are not sensitive. WFPC2's

field of view ideally matches the typical size of the star-forming

regions, and its spatial resolution allows us to measure indvidual

stars, given the proximity of these galaxies. The resulting H- R

diagrams will enable studies of star-formation properties in these

regions, which cover largely differing metallicities {a factor of 17,

compared to the factor of 4 explored so far} and characteristics. The

results will further our understanding of the star-formation process, of

the interplay between massive stars and environment, the properties of

dust, and will provide the key to interpret integrated measurements of

star-formation indicators {UV, IR, Halpha} available for several

hundreds more distant galaxies. Our recent deep surveys of these

galaxies with GALEX {FUV, NUV} and ground-based imaging {UBVRI, Halpha,

[OIII] and [SII]} provided the identification of the most relevant SF

sites. In addition to our scientific analysis, we will provide catalogs

of HST photometry in 6 bands, matched corollary ground-based data, and

UV, Halpha and IR integrated measurements of the associations, for

comparison of integrated star-formation indices to the resolved

populations. We envisage an EPO component.

WFPC2 11311

The high-amplification microlensing event OGLE-2007-BLG-224: a

substellar lens in the Galactic disk or a low-mass stellar lens in the

halo?

OGLE-2007-BLG-224/MOA-2007-BLG-163 is a remarkable microlensing event

towards the Galactic bulge, which peaked on May 12, 2007. The light

curve reached a peak magnification of ~3700, which is the highest

magnification ever observed. The color and magnitude of the source

indicate that it is a G-dwarf in the Galactic bulge, and source radius

crossing time of t* = 8.2 minutes implies that the lens-source relative

proper motion is 45 mas/yr. This indicates that the lens must either be

a very nearby brown dwarf, or a halo star. The HST observations proposed

here provide a very good chance to distinguish between these two

possibilities and to determine the distance and mass of the lens. If it

is a nearby brown dwarf, it is likely to be associated with a

high-proper-motion star that is found close to the source. HST

observations taken at two epochs will resolve out the geocentric and the

heliocentric the proper-motions, thus providing unambiguous proof that

it is a substellar lens. If the lens is a halo star, then it should be

detectable as it separates from the source star over the next year. This

would be the first definitive detection of a lens star in the Galatic

halo and it would help to resolve the long running controversy over

whether a significant fraction of the microlensing events seen towards

the Magellanic Clouds are due to lens objects in the halo. Thus, it will

either be the first clear proof of a substellar lens in the Galactic

disk, or the first clear detection of a halo lens.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports

of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.)

HSTARS: 

10860 – GSAcq (1,2,2) results in Fine Lock Back-up (1,0,1) using FGS 1

At AOS 163/01:03:45 GSAcq (1,2,2) scheduled from 163/00:31:07-00:38:26

resulted in Fine Lock Back-up (1,0,1) using FGS 1.

OBAD data unavailable due to LOS

OBAD MAP:V1 2.04, V2 -20.57, V3 13.61, RSS 24.75

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)

                             SCHEDULED      SUCCESSFUL     

FGS GSacq                      9                     9                 

FGS REacq                      5                     5                 

OBAD with Maneuver      27                    27            

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)