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 # 4391
PERIOD COVERED: UT June 25, 2007 (DOY 176)
OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED
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.
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.
NIC2 11133
Late-Time Photometry of SN 2005hk: A New Kind of
Our lack of understanding of
our confidence in their use for cosmology. While there is
broad
agreement that these objects represent the explosions of
white dwarfs,
the details of the explosion mechanism are not well-
understood. Recent
observations have detected a previously unacknowledged
variant class of
distinct from normal
thermonuclear supernova models, as a complete theory of
exploding white
dwarfs must allow for their existence. A particularly
well-studied
example of this class of objects is the recent SN 2005hk,
whose
properties in some respects resemble those of models which
invoke a
subsonic burning front, called a deflagration. We propose
to test SN Ia
models by obtaining late-time photometry for this extreme
SN Ia using
WFPC2 and NICMOS on HST. We will accurately measure the
late-time
photometric decline rate and spectral energy distribution
{SED}. These
observations will allow us to test whether the ejecta
contain the large
amount of oxygen predicted by certain models, the
efficiency of energy
deposition by gamma rays and positrons, and possibly
detect major
evolution of the SED expected due to a change in the dominant
cooling
mechanism of the ejecta.
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 11112
The Collisional Ring Galaxy NGC922
We request WFPC2 images of the newly recognized
collisional ring galaxy
NGC922 which will become the nearest such system observed
by HST. These
will be used to get a clear understanding of the geometry
of the
interaction and the induced star formation in this system.
Quantitive
modeling of the colors of the star clusters and stellar
populations will
be used to constrain the star formation history of the
system. They will
also be used to test the "infant mortality"
scenario for star cluster
evolution. The derived population ages will test
predictions of how star
formation evolves in the various components {ring, core,
spokes} of
collisional rings, and will improve our own simulations of
this system.
These will be used to determine the final fate of the
stars formed in
the present burst - some will end up in a central bar or
bulge while
others will become part of a thickened disk. By analogy
this will tell
us how similar collisions enrich stellar populations in
the early
universe. This is especially relevant since the number
density of
collisional rings increases rapidly with redshift.
WFPC2 11140
Can mass-ejections from late He-shell flash stars
constrain
convective/reactive flow modeling of stellar interiors?
The existence of H-deficient knots around the central
stars of the
planetary nebulae Abell 30 and Abell 78 is still
unexplained. We
hypothesize that these knots were ejected during a very
late
helium-shell flash {= very late thermal pulse, VLTP}
suffered by the
precursor white dwarf stars. If this is true, then the
characteristics
of these knots {mass, velocity, density, spatial
distribution} allow to
draw conclusions on the course of the hydrogen- ingestion
flash
detonation that is triggered by the He-shell flash. This
provides
important, otherwise inaccessible constraints for the
hydrodynamical
modeling of convective/reactive flows in stellar
interiors.
Understanding the physics of these flows is not only
important for the
understanding of these particular central stars, but also
for the
frequent, very similar convective/reactive events that
determine the
nucleosynthesis in Pop. III stars. With this proposal we
want to proof
or discard the idea that the H-deficient knots are
resulting from a
VLTP. If true, then they can be exploited for
flash-physics diagnostics.
We propose a simple test. We search for such knots around
five
H-deficient central stars {PG1159 stars}. Our models
predict, that only
those stars with residual nitrogen in the atmosphere have
suffered a
VLTP and, hence, should have expelled knots. We therefore
want to take
[O III] images of stars which have photospheric N and
those which do
not.
FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are
preliminary reports
of potential non-nominal performance that will be
investigated.)
HSTARS: 10870 - GSAcq(1,2,1) failed to RGA Hold (Gyro
Control)
Upon acquisition of signal at 177/06:04:01, the
GSAcq(1,2,1) scheduled
at 177/05:34:41 - 05:42:46 had failed to RGA Hold due to
(QF1STOPF) stop
flag indication on FGS-1. Pre-acquisition OBADs (RSS)
attitude
correction values not available pending future Engineering
Tape Recorder
(ETR) Dump. Post-acq OBAd/MAP had (RSS) value of 1258.80
arcseconds.
COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)
SCHEDULED
SUCCESSFUL
FGS
GSacq
5
4
FGS
REacq
7
7
OBAD with Maneuver
22
22
COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)