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 # 4430
PERIOD COVERED: UT August 20, 2007 (DOY 232)
OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED
WFPC2 10787
Modes of Star Formation and Nuclear Activity in an Early
Universe
Laboratory
Nearby compact galaxy groups are uniquely suited to
exploring the
mechanisms of star formation amid repeated
and ongoing gravitational
encounters, conditions similar to those of
the high redshift universe.
These dense groups host a variety of modes of star
formation, and they
enable fresh insights into the role of
gas in galaxy evolution. With
Spitzer mid-IR observations in hand, we have begun to
obtain high
quality, multi-wavelength data for a
well- defined sample of 12 nearby
{<4500km/s} compact groups covering the full range of
evolutionary
stages. Here we propose to obtain
sensitive BVI images with the ACS/WFC,
deep enough to reach the turnover of
the globular cluster luminosity
function, and WFPC2 U-band and ACS
H-alpha images of Spitzer-identified
regions hosting the most recent star
formation. In total, we expect to
detect over 1000 young star clusters
forming inside and outside
galaxies, more than 4000 old globular
clusters in >40 giant galaxies
{including 16 early-type
galaxies}, over 20 tidal features,
approximately 15 AGNs,
and intragroup gas in most of the 12 groups.
Combining the proposed ACS images with Chandra
observations, UV GALEX
observations, ground-based H-alpha imaging,
and HI data, we will conduct
a detailed study of stellar
nurseries, dust, gas kinematics, and AGN.
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 DARKs. 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 11219
Active Galactic Nuclei in nearby galaxies: a new view of
the origin of
the radio-loud radio- quiet
dichotomy?
Using archival HST and Chandra observations of 34 nearby
early-type
galaxies {drawn from a complete radio
selected sample} we have found
evidence that the radio-loud/radio-quiet
dichotomy is directly connected
to the structure of the inner
regions of their host galaxies in the
following sense: [1] Radio-loud AGN are
associated with galaxies with
shallow cores in their light profiles
[2] Radio-quiet AGN are only
hosted by galaxies with steep cusps.
Since the brightness profile is
determined by the galaxy's evolution,
through its merger history, our
results suggest that the same process
sets the AGN flavour. This
provides us with a novel tool to explore
the co-evolution of galaxies
and supermassive
black holes, and it opens a new path to understand the
origin of the radio-loud/radio-quiet
AGN dichotomy. Currently our
analysis is statistically incomplete as
the brightness profile is not
available for 82 of the 116 targets. Most
galaxies were not observed
with HST, while in some cases the
study is obstructed by the presence of
dust features. We here propose to
perform an infrared NICMOS snapshot
survey of these 82 galaxies. This will
enable us to i} test the reality
of the dichotomic
behaviour in a substantially larger sample; ii}
extend
the comparison between radio-loud
and radio-quiet AGN to a larger range
of luminosities.
NIC2 11329
The Final SHOE; Completing a Rich Cepheid Field in NGC
1309
The Cycle 15 SHOES program {GO 10802} is a large HST
program allocated
186 orbits to rebuild the distance ladder using NGC 4258
as a new
anchor, a set of 6 recent, ideal type Ia supernovae and Cepheids in
their hosts, and NICMOS as a single,
homogeneous photometer of long
period Cepheids.
These tools provide the means to achieve a 4%
measurement of the Hubble constant, an
invaluable constraint for cosmic
concordance fits to dark energy models.
Unfortunately, the SHOES NICMOS
integrations of long period Cepheids in the last and most recent nearby
type Ia
supernova host, NGC 1309, are too short because the preliminary
estimate of its distance, 30 Mpc, was too low. Our refined estimate now
based on the full reduction of both
our Cycle 14 and 15 ACS data is 36
Mpc, or 0.4 mag farther. Fortunately, Nature was extremely kind
providing a single rich NIC2 field in
which we can fully make up for the
shortfall due to its abundance of Cepheids. We are expensing our final 4
orbits on this field of a dozen
P>30 day Cepheids and seek an additional
5 orbits to reach the depth for measuring the mean F160W
magnitudes of
the long-period Cepheids
with the necessary signal-to-noise ratios of
better than 10.
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 11031
CTE Background Dependence Closeout
Measuring the charge transfer efficiency {CTE} of an
astronomical CCD
camera is crucial to determining the CCD's photometric fidelity across
the field of view. WFPC2's CTE has
degraded steadily over the last 13
years because of continuous exposure
to trapped particles in HST's
radiation environment. The fraction of
photometric signal lost from
WFPC2's CTI {charge transfer inefficiency} is a function
of WFPC2's time
in orbit, the integrated signal in
the image, the location of the image
on the CCD, and the background
signal. Routine monitoring of WFPC2's CTE
over the last 13 years permits an
assessment of all but the last
condition. The dependence of CTE on
background signal must be
characterized, however, because a large
fraction of WFPC2 images have
been obtained under conditions of
significant sky background. This
program aims to assess the end-of-life
CTE of WFPC2's CCDs separately as
a function of background signal. Traditional
images of an off-center
field in NGC 5139 {Omega Cen} are recorded after preflashing
{or before
postflashing} the CCDs
with internal lamps to provide average background
signals of 0-160 e-, which span the
range of sky backgrounds observed in
~99% of long-exposure narrow- and broad-band WFPC2 images.
WFPC2 11234
A Brief Revisit of the Crab
We propose using WFPC2 to obtain continuum-dominated
images of the Crab
pulsar and environs closely
duplicating archival exposures from 1994 and
1995. By matching the archival data we can realize ~3mas
precision
astrometry with a minimum of systematic
effects over a maximum {~13.5y}
baseline. This determines the Crab
proper motion to better than
0.3mas/yr {3km/s} accuracy and measures its position angle
to better
than 1.5degrees, i.e. reducing the
errors of the best present {HST
archive} measurement by a factor of
three. Most importantly, this
provide a nearly systematic-free
result. This proper motion measurement
would match the precision of the
CXO-measured angular momentum vector.
Comparison of these vectors is the foundation of an effort
to understand
the physical origin of the large
momentum kick at pulsar birth.
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.
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: (None)
COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)
SCHEDULED
SUCCESSFUL
FGS GSacq
06
06
FGS REacq
08
08
OBAD with Maneuver
28
28
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)
-
____________________________________________________________
Lynn F. Bassford
Hubble Space Telescope
CHAMP
CHAMP Flight Operations Team Manager
Lockheed Martin Mission Services (LMMS)
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