Notice: Due to the conversion of some ACS WFC or HRC
observations into
WFPC2, or NICMOS observations after
the loss of ACS CCD science
capability in January, there may be an
occasional discrepancy between a
proposal's listed (and correct) instrument
usage and the abstract that
follows it.
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class
Science
DAILY REPORT # 4409
PERIOD COVERED: UT July 20, 21 and 22, 2007 (DOY 201, 202
and 203)
OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED
NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 8794
NICMOS Post-SAA calibration -
CR Persistance 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 11289
SL2S: The Strong Lensing Legacy
Survey
Recent systematic surveys of strong galaxy-galaxy lenses
{CLASS, SLACS,
GOODS, etc.} are
producing spectacular results for galaxy masses roughly
below a transition mass M~10^13 Mo.
The observed lens properties and
their evolution up to z~0.2,
consistent with numerical simulations, can
be described by isothermal
elliptical potentials. In contrast, modeling
of giant arcs in X-ray luminous
clusters {halo masses M >~10^13 Mo}
favors NFW mass profiles, suggesting
that dark matter halos are not
significantly affected by baryon cooling.
Until recently, lensing
surveys were neither deep nor extended
enough to probe the intermediate
mass density regime, which is
fundamental for understanding the assembly
of structures. The CFHT Legacy
Survey now covers 125 square degrees, and
thus offers a large reservoir of
strong lenses probing a large range of
mass densities up to z~1. We have
extracted a list of 150 strong lenses
using the most recent CFHTLS data
release via automated procedures.
Following our first SNAPSHOT proposal in cycle 15, we
propose to
continue the Hubble follow-up targeting
a larger list of 130 lensing
candidates. These are intermediate mass
range candidates {between
galaxies and clusters} that are selected
in the redshift range of 0.2-1
with no a priori X-ray selection.
The HST resolution is necessary for
confirming the lensing
candidates, accurate modeling of the lenses, and
probing the total mass concentration in
galaxy groups up to z~1 with the
largest unbiased sample available to
date.
FGS 11210
The Architecture of Exoplanetary
Systems
Are all planetary systems coplanar? Concordance cosmogony
makes that
prediction. It is, however, a prediction
of extrasolar planetary system
architecture as yet untested by direct
observation for main sequence
stars other than the Sun. To provide
such a test, we propose to carry
out FGS astrometric
studies on four stars hosting seven companions. Our
understanding of the planet formation process
will grow as we match not
only system architecture, but formed
planet mass and true distance from
the primary with host star
characteristics for a wide variety of host
stars and exoplanet
masses. We propose that a series of FGS astrometric
observations with demonstrated 1 millisecond
of arc per-observation
precision can establish the degree of coplanarity and component true
masses for four extrasolar
systems: HD 202206 {brown dwarf+planet}; HD
128311 {planet+planet}, HD
160691 = mu Arae {planet+planet}, and HD
222404AB = gamma Cephei {planet+star}. In each case the companion is
identified as such by assuming that the
minimum mass is the actual mass.
For the last target, a known stellar binary system, the
companion orbit
is stable only if coplanar with
the AB binary orbit.
WFPC2 11178
Probing Solar System History with Orbits, Masses, and
Colors of
Transneptunian Binaries
The recent discovery of numerous transneptunian
binaries {TNBs} opens a
window into dynamical conditions in
the protoplanetary disk where they
formed as well as the history of subsequent
events which sculpted the
outer Solar System and emplaced them
onto their present day heliocentric
orbits. To date, at least 47 TNBs have been discovered, but only about a
dozen have had their mutual orbits
and separate colors determined,
frustrating their use to investigate
numerous important scientific
questions. The current shortage of data
especially cripples scientific
investigations requiring statistical
comparisons among the ensemble
characteristics. We propose to obtain
sufficient astrometry and
photometry of 23 TNBs
to compute their mutual orbits and system masses
and to determine separate primary
and secondary colors, roughly tripling
the sample for which this
information is known, as well as extending it
to include systems of two near-equal
size bodies. To make the most
efficient possible use of HST, we will
use a
optimally schedule our observations.
WFPC2 11084
Probing the Least Luminous Galaxies in the Local Universe
We propose to obtain deep color-magnitude data of eight
new Local Group
galaxies which we recently discovered:
Andromeda XI, Andromeda XII, and
Andromeda XIII {satellites of M31}; Canes Venatici I, Canes Venatici II,
Hercules, and Leo IV {satellites of the Milky Way}; and
Leo T, a new
"free-floating" Local
Group dwarf spheroidal with evidence for recent
star formation and associated H I
gas. These represent the least
luminous galaxies known at *any* redshift, and are the only accessible
laboratories for studying this extreme regime
of galaxy formation. With
deep WFPC-2 F606W and F814W pointings at their centers, we will
determine whether these objects contain
single or multiple age stellar
populations, as well as whether these
objects display a range of
metallicities.
NIC3 11082
NICMOS Imaging of GOODS: Probing the Evolution of the
Earliest Massive
Galaxies, Galaxies Beyond Reionization, and the High Redshift
Obscured
Universe
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.
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.
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 individual
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.
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.
ACS/WFC/WFPC2 10904
Star formation in extended UV disk {XUV-disk} galaxies
The Galaxy Evolution Explorer {GALEX} has discovered the
existence of
extended UV-disk {XUV-disk} galaxies.
This class of intriguing spiral
galaxies is distinguished by UV-bright
regions of star formation located
at extreme galactocentric
radii, commonly reaching many times the
optical extent of each target.
XUV-disks represent a population of
late-type galaxies still actively
building, or significantly augmenting,
their stellar disk in the outer,
low-density environment. Prior to
GALEX, such regions were considered to be far more stable
against star
formation than now realized. Our work on
these targets has led to the
recognition of the XUV phenomenon as
probing a diverse population of
galaxies which, although having certain
commonality in terms of their
present XUV star formation, have
apparently experienced different star
formation histories {as judged by their
outer disk UV-optical colors and
morphology}. In ordinary spirals, disk
formation occurred at a much
earlier epoch, making today's XUV-disks
useful templates for
commonplace, high z galaxies. The diverse
XUV-disks in our sample may
represent snapshots of different phases
in the disk building process. We
seek to characterize the
demographics of star forming regions occupying
this environmental range, especially
in contrast to their inner disk
counterparts. HST imaging is needed to
accurately characterize the
massive stars and clusters which have,
in fact, managed to form. The
GALEX observations are limited by 5" resolution. Deep
ACS FUV, B, V, I,
and H-alpha imaging {along with
parallel WFPC2 data} will allow: {1}
photometric classification of the
the cluster mass function and age
distribution, {3} critical accounting
for possible leakage of Lyman
continuum photons in a porous ISM or an
IMF change, and {4} population synthesis modeling of the
field SFH on
Gyr timescales. We benefit from extensive
archival HST observations of
our target galaxies, although the
outer disk has yet to be probed.
NIC3 10874
Search for Extremely Faint z>7 Galaxy Population with
Cosmic Lenses
Deep UDF/NICMOS observations find a significant decrease
in the number
of galaxy candidates between redshift z=6 and 7, but the sample at z>7
is too small to draw conclusions.
From our observations of 15 clusters
we have found a number of bright
z-dropouts, aided by the lensing
amplification. We propose deep NICMOS
observations of the best cases of
cluster centers where a rare
combination of a significant lensing effect
and the richness in z-band dropouts
in background may dramatically
increase the discovery rate. The NICMOS
images will reach an
unprecedented depth of AB~27.8, or AB~30 in nonlensed intrinsic
magnitude, and may find many faint
{~0.05L*} galaxies at z=7-10, at a
level that the UDF reaches for z~6
objects. We produce precision mass
distribution maps from weak-lensing models, which enable us to derive
the candidates' intrinsic
magnitudes and their luminosity function. The
knowledge of such faint galaxy population
at z>7 will facilitate the
models of the IGM reionization
and future JWST planning.
WFPC2 10841
A Proper Motion Search for Intermediate Mass Black Holes
in Globular
Clusters {2nd Epoch Observations}
Establishing the presence or absence of intermediate-mass
black holes
{IMBH} in globular clusters is crucial for understanding
the evolution
of dense stellar systems.
Observationally, this search has been hampered
by the low number of stars with
known velocities in the central few
arcseconds. This limits our knowledge of
the velocity dispersion in the
region where the gravitational
influence of any IMBH would be felt. In
Cycle 13, we successfully obtained ACS/HRC images of the
centers of five
carefully chosen Galactic globular
clusters {GO-10401} for a new proper
motion study. Although the science
case was approved and the first epoch
images obtained, the requested future
cycle observations were not
granted {due to a general policy
decision based on the strong
uncertainties at the time concerning the
immediate future of HST}. We
have now assessed the quality of the
first epoch observations. The HRC
resolution reveals many isolated stars in
to the very center of each
cluster that remained blended or
unresolved in previous WFPC2 data.
Given a two year baseline, we are confident that we can
achieve the
proper motion precision required to
place strict limits on the presence
of an IMBH. Therefore, we request
the second-epoch, follow-up
observations to GO-10401 in order to measure
the proper motions of stars
in our target clusters. These
velocity measurements will allow us to:
{i}
place constraints on the mass of a central black hole in each
cluster; {ii} derive the internal
velocity dispersion as a function of
cluster radius; {iii} verify or reject
previous reports of cluster
rotation; and {iv} directly measure
velocity anisotropy as a function of
radius. If no second epoch data are
obtained then the observing time
already invested in the first epoch
will have been wasted.
NIC1 10797
HE0450-2958: Lonesome black hole, scantly dressed quasar
or massively
dust obscured host galaxy?
We propose to obtain a deep NICMOS image of the bright
z=0.285 quasar
HE0450-2958 that has an exceptional, undetected host
galaxy, at least 6
times fainter than expected for the
quasar luminosity. Several mutually
exclusive explanations that were put forward
in the last weeks,
attempting to explain the apparently undermassive host galaxy, have
important implication for their
respective areas: The host could be a
dust obscured ultra-luminous
infrared galaxy in transition to become a
quasar, HE450-2958 could have a normal
host galaxy but an undermassive
central black hole, or the quasar could
recently have been ejected from
a nearby companion galaxy in a
3-body black hole interaction or by
gravitational recoil. We want to use NIC2
with the minimum-background
F160W filter to obtain a >=10 times fainter limit on
the host galaxy
mass than is currently available
with ACS, in order to set strong
constraints for these very important
scenarios.
FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are
preliminary reports
of potential non-nominal
performance that will be investigated.)
HSTARS:
#10904 REAcq (1,2,1) failed due to Search Radius Limit Exceeded on FGS-1.
REAcq (1,2,1) was scheduled from
12:46:34-12:54:02 had
failed to RGA hold (Gyro Control).
OBAD #1 & #2 data
unavailable due to LOS.
OBAD MAP: V1 95.03, V2 -19.52, V3 95.87, RSS
136.39
#10905 GSAcq (2,3,2) failed due to Search Radius Limit Exceeded on
FGS-2.
GSAcq (2,3,2) was scheduled from
14:14:28-14:21:49z.
OBAD #1: V1 -666.23, V2 -2175.08, V3 369.54,
RSS 2304.65
OBAD #2: V1 -4.67, V2 -0.30, V3 140.71, RSS
140.79
OBAD MAP: v1 -46.66, V2 28.02, V3 -191.16,
RSS 198.76
REAcq (2,3,2) scheduled from
15:47:31-15:54:52 had also failed due
to search radius limit exceeded on FGS-2.
OBAD #1 & #2
unavailable due to LOS.
OBAD MAP: v1 -4.86, V2 3.12, V3 -147.87, RSS
147.98
#10907 GSAcq(2,0,2) failed.
GSAcq(2,0,2)
at 201/19:01:21 failed to RGA control (gyro control) with
QF2STOPF and
QSTOP flags set. Vehicle had OBAD RSS error of 42.31
arcseconds. Occurred during LOS,
additional info available following the
next engineering recorder dump.
#10909 REAcq(1,2,1) failed to RGA control.
REAcq(1,2,1)
failed at 202/1542z and received stop flag QF1STOPF on FGS 1.
OBAD1 showed errors of V1=-32.18,
V2=-584.13, V3=-18.99, and RSS=585.32.
OBAD2 occurred during LOS.
# 10910 GSAcq(2,3,3) failed to RGA Hold (Gyro Control).
GSAcq(2,3,3)
scheduled at 203/04:39:21z failed to RGA Hold due to both
(QF2STOPF)
stop flag and (QF2SRLEX) search radius limit exceeded
indication on FGS-2.
Pre-acquisition OBAD1
attitude correction value not available due to LOS.
OBAD2 had (RSS) value of 13.38 arcseconds.
Post-acq OBAD/MAP at 203/04:46:40z not available in 32K
F-FORMAT.
#10911 OBAD Failed Identification.
OBAD1
scheduled at 203/20:18:37z failed. "OBAD Failed Identification" was
received at 203/22:21:29z. OBAD2 and the GSAcq
were successful.
COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)
COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)
SCHEDULED
SUCCESSFUL
FGS GSacq 18 15
FGS REacq 26 23
OBAD with Maneuver
88 85
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)
-
____________________________________________________________
Lynn F. Bassford
Hubble Space Telescope
CHAMP
Lockheed Martin
NASA GSFC PH#: 301-286-2876
"The Hubble Space
Telescope is the astronomical observatory and key to unlocking the most cosmic
mysteries of the past, present and future." -
7/26/6