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 #
4477
PERIOD COVERED: UT October 26, 27 & 28 2007 (DOY
299,300,301)
OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED
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.
WFPC2 11296
HST Observations of Astrophysically
Important Visual Binaries
This is a continuation of a project begun in Cycle 7 and
continued up
through Cycle 14. The program consists
of annual FGS or WFPC2
observations of three visual binary stars
that will yield fundamental
astrophysical results, once their orbits and masses
are determined. Our
targets are the following: {1} Procyon {P = 40.9 yr}, for which our
first WFPC2 images yielded an
extremely accurate angular separation of
the bright F star and its much
fainter white-dwarf companion. Combined
with ground-based astrometry of the
bright star, our observation
significantly revised downward the derived
masses, and brought Procyon A
into much better agreement with
theoretical evolutionary masses for the
first time. With the continued
monitoring proposed here, we will obtain
masses to an accuracy of better than
1%, providing a testbed for
theories of both Sun-like stars and
white dwarfs. {2} G 107-70, a close
double white dwarf {P = 18.5 yr} that
promises to add two accurate
masses to the tiny handful of
white-dwarf masses that are directly known
from dynamical measurements. {3} Mu Cas {P = 20.8 yr}, a famous
nearby
metal-deficient G dwarf for which accurate
masses will lead to the
stars' helium contents, with
cosmological implications. For all three
stars, we will also be setting
increasingly stringent limits on the
presence of planetary- mass bodies in
the systems.
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.
WFPC2 11229
SEEDS: The Search for Evolution of Emission from Dust in
Supernovae with
HST and
The role that massive stars play in the dust content of
the Universe is
extremely uncertain. It has long been
hypothesized that dust can
condense within the ejecta
of supernovae {SNe}, however there is a
frustrating discrepancy between the amounts
of dust found in the early
Universe, or predicted by nucleation theory, and inferred
from SN
observations. Our SEEDS collaboration has
been carefully revisiting the
observational case for dust formation by
core-collapse SNe, in order to
quantify their role as dust contributors
in the early Universe. As dust
condenses in expanding SN ejecta, it will increase in optical depth,
producing three simultaneously observable
phenomena: {1} increasing
optical extinction; {2} infrared {IR}
excesses; and {3} asymmetric
blue-shifted emission lines. Our SEEDS
collaboration recently reported
all three phenomena occurring in
SN2003gd, demonstrating the success of
our observing strategy, and
permitting us to derive a dust mass of up to
0.02 solar masses created in the SN. To advance our
understanding of the
origin and evolution of the
interstellar dust in galaxies, we propose to
use HST's
WFPC2 and NICMOS instruments plus Spitzer's photometric
instruments to monitor ten recent core-
collapse SNe for dust formation
and, as a bonus, detect light
echoes that can affect the dust mass
estimates. These space-borne observations
will be supplemented by
ground- based spectroscopic monitoring
of their optical emission line
profiles. These observations would
continue our 2-year HST and Spitzer
monitoring of this phenomena in order to
address two key questions: Do
all SNe
produce dust? and How much dust do they produce? As
all the SN
are within 15 Mpc,
each SN stands an excellent chance of detection with
HST and Spitzer and of resolving potential light echoes.
FGS 11212
Filling the Period Gap for Massive Binaries
The current census of binaries among the massive O-type
stars is
seriously incomplete for systems in the
period range from years to
millennia because the radial velocity
variations are too small and the
angular separations too close for easy
detection. Here we propose to
discover binaries in this observational
gap through a Faint Guidance
Sensor SNAP survey of relatively bright targets listed in
the Galactic O
Star Catalog. Our primary goal is to
determine the binary frequency
among those in the
cluster/association, field, and runaway groups. The
results will help us assess the role of
binaries in massive star
formation and in the processes that lead
to the ejection of massive
stars from their natal clusters. The
program will also lead to the
identification of new, close binaries that
will be targets of long term
spectroscopic and high angular resolution
observations to determine
their masses and distances. The
results will also be important for the
interpretation of the spectra of suspected and
newly identified binary
and multiple systems.
FGS 11211
An Astrometric Calibration of
Population II Distance Indicators
In 2002 HST produced a highly precise parallax for RR Lyrae. That
measurement resulted in an absolute
magnitude, M{V}= 0.61+/-0.11, a
useful result, judged by the over ten
refereed citations each year
since. It is, however, unsatisfactory
to have the direct,
parallax-based, distance scale of Population
II variables based on a
single star. We propose, therefore, to
obtain the parallaxes of four
additional RR Lyrae
stars and two Population II Cepheids, or
stars. The Population II Cepheids lie with the RR Lyrae
stars on a
common K-band Period-Luminosity
relation. Using these parallaxes to
inform that relationship, we
anticipate a zero-point error of 0.04
magnitude. This result should greatly
strengthen confidence in the
Population II distance scale and increase our
understanding of RR Lyrae
star and Pop II Cepheid
astrophysics.
WFPC2 11203
A Search for Circumstellar Disks
and Planetary-Mass Companions around
Brown Dwarfs in Taurus
During a 1-orbit program in Cycle 14, we used WFPC2 to
obtain the first
direct image of a circumstellar
disk around a brown dwarf. These data
have provided fundamental new
constraints on the formation process of
brown dwarfs and the properties of
their disks. To search for additional
direct detections of disks around
brown dwarfs and to search for
planetary-mass companions to these objects, we
propose a WFPC2 survey of
32 brown dwarfs in the Taurus star-forming region.
NIC2 11197
Sweeping Away the Dust: Reliable Dark Energy with an
Infrared Hubble
Diagram
We propose building a high-z Hubble Diagram using type Ia supernovae
observed in the infrared rest-frame
J-band. The infrared has a number of
exceptional properties. The effect of dust
extinction is minimal,
reducing a major systematic that may be
biasing dark energy
measurements. Also, recent work indicates that
type Ia supernovae are
true standard candles in the
infrared meaning that our Hubble diagram
will be resistant to possible
evolution in the Phillip's relation over
cosmic time. High signal-to-noise
measurements of 16 type Ia
events at
z~0.4 will be compared with an
independent optical Hubble diagram from
the ESSENCE project to test for a
shift in the derived dark energy
equation of state due to a systematic
bias. In Cycle 15 we obtained
NICMOS photometry of 8 ESSENCE supernovae and are awaiting
template
observations to place them on the IR Hubble
diagram. Here we request
another 8 supernovae be studied in the
final season of the ESSENCE
search. Because of the bright sky
background, H-band photometry of z~0.4
supernovae is not feasible from the
ground. Only the superb image
quality and dark infrared sky seen by
HST makes this test possible. This
experiment may also lead to a better, more
reliable way of mapping the
expansion history of the universe with
the Joint Dark Energy Mission.
WFPC2 11194
Beyond the Bullet: Direct Detection of Dark Matter in
Merging Galaxy
Clusters
Our comparison of the distribution of baryons {stars and
gas} and mass
{from weak lensing}
in the "Bullet" Cluster has recently yielded
concrete evidence for dark matter
independent of basic assumptions
regarding the nature of the gravitational
force. The one incomplete
aspect of the argument relates to
potential, although highly unlikely,
coincidences {special alignments along the
line of sight, and/or
fortuitous canceling in non- standard
gravitational models} that can
always be invoked against results
derived from the study of one object.
Therefore, we propose to complete this line of
investigation by
increasing the size of our sample with
observations of an additional
cluster. Here we propose to obtain HST
WFPC2 imaging mosaics around the
cores of the cluster to detect at
high significance if the weak
gravitational lensing
mass peaks are routinely displaced from the X-ray
plasma clouds and aligned with the galaxy
concentrations in interacting
clusters. With a relatively modest
allocation of time, we seek to
complete a significant step toward the
eventual resolution of the dark
matter question.
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 11170
UV Imaging of the Martian
ACS SBC UV imaging observations of Mars are proposed to
study the
extended hydrogen corona, with
application to the escape of hydrogen and
the history of water on Mars. These
observations will be scheduled when
Mars is distant from the Earth, so that a field of view of
+/- 4-5 Mars
radii can be obtained to image the
full range of the highly extended
martian hydrogen corona through its H
Ly alpha emission. The
observations will also be obtained when the
Sun-Earth-Mars angle is
close to 90 degrees, so that any
asymmetry along the Mars-Sun line can
be observed. The observed
2-dimensional brightness distribution will be
related to local density using two
existing radiative transfer codes,
and the upward flux and velocity
distributions will be determined by
comparison with runs from an exospheric
distribution model. These
observations, combined with simultaneous Ly
alpha observations by the
SPICAM instrument on Mars Express from within the atmosphere, will
provide the first tight constraints on
the total escape flux and
importance of nonthermal
processes on the rate of escape.
WFPC2 11169
Collisions in the Kuiper belt
For most of the 15 year history of observations of Kuiper belt objects,
it has been speculated that
impacts must have played a major role in
shaping the physical and chemical
characteristics of these objects, yet
little direct evidence of the effects
of such impacts has been seen. The
past 18 months, however, have seen
an explosion of major new discoveries
giving some of the first insights into
the influence of this critical
process. From a diversity of observations
we have been led to the
hypotheses that: {1} satellite- forming
impacts must have been common in
the Kuiper
belt; {2} such impacts led to significant chemical
modification; and {3} the outcomes of these
impacts are sufficiently
predictable that we can now find and study
these impact-derived systems
by the chemical and physical
attributes of both the satellites and the
primaries. If our picture is correct, we
now have in hand for the first
time a set of incredibly powerful
tools to study the frequency and
outcome of collisions in the outer
solar system. Here we propose three
linked projects that would answer
questions critical to the multiple
prongs of our hypothesis. In these
projects we will study the chemical
effects of collisions through spectrophotometric observations of
collisionally formed satellites and through
the search for additional
satellites around primaries with potential
impact signatures, and we
will study the physical effects of
impacts through the examination of
tidal evolution in proposed impact
systems. The intensive HST program
that we propose here will allow us
to fully test our new hypotheses and
will provide the ability to obtain
the first extensive insights into
outer solar system impact processes.
WFPC2 11130
AGNs with Intermediate-mass Black
Holes: Testing the Black Hole-Bulge
Paradigm, Part II
The recent progress in the study of central black holes in
galactic
nuclei has led to a general consensus
that supermassive {10^6-10^9 solar
mass} black holes are closely connected
with the formation and
evolutionary history of large galaxies,
especially their bulge
component. Two outstanding issues,
however, remain unresolved. Can
central black holes form in the absence
of a bulge? And does the mass
function of central black holes extend
below 10^6 solar masses?
Intermediate-mass black holes {<10^6 solar masses}, if
they exist, may
offer important clues to the nature
of the seeds of supermassive black
holes. Using the SDSS, our group has
successfully uncovered a new
population of AGNs
with intermediate-mass black holes that reside in
low-luminosity galaxies. However, very little
is known about the
detailed morphologies or structural
parameters of the host galaxies
themselves, including the crucial question
of whether they have bulges
or not. Surprisingly, the majority
of the targets of our Cycle 14 pilot
program have structural properties
similar to dwarf elliptical galaxies.
The statistics from this initial study, however, are
really too sparse
to reach definitive conclusions on
this important new class of black
holes. We wish to extend this study
to a larger sample, by using the
Snapshot mode to obtain WFPC2 F814W images from a parent
sample of 175
AGNs with intermediate-mass black
holes selected from our final SDSS
search. We are particularly keen to
determine whether the hosts contain
bulges, and if so, how the fundamental
plane properties of the host
depend on the mass of their central
black holes. We will also
investigate the environment of this unique
class of AGNs.
WFPC2 11128
Time Scales Of Bulge Formation In
Nearby Galaxies
Traditionally, bulges are thought to fit well into galaxy
formation
models of hierarchical merging.
However, it is now becoming well
established that many bulges formed through
internal, secular evolution
of the disk rather than through
mergers. We call these objects
pseudobulges. Much is still unknown about pseudobulges, the most
pressing questions being: How, exactly,
do they build up their mass? How
long does it take? And, how many
exist? We are after an answer to these
questions. If pseudobulges
form and evolve over longer periods than the
time between mergers, then a
significant population of pseudobulges is
hard to explain within current
galaxy formation theories. A pseudobulge
indicates that a galaxy has most likely
not undergone a major merger
since the formation of the disk. The
ages of pseudobulges give us an
estimate for the time scale of this
quiescent evolution. We propose to
use 24 orbits of HST time to
complete UBVIH imaging on a sample of 33
nearby galaxies that we have observed
with Spitzer in the mid-IR. These
data will be used to measure
spatially resolved stellar population
parameters {mean stellar age, metallicity, and star formation history};
comparing ages to star formation rates
allows us to accurately constrain
the time scale of pseudobulge formation. Our sample of bulges includes
both pseudo- and classical bulges,
and evenly samples barred and
unbarred galaxies. Most of our sample is
imaged, 13 have complete UBVIH
coverage; we merely ask to complete
missing observations so that we may
construct a uniform sample for studying
bulge formation. We also wish to
compare the stellar population
parameters to a variety of bulge and
global galaxy properties including
star formation rates, dynamics,
internal bulge morphology, structure
from bulge-disk decompositions, and
gas content. Much of this data set
is already or is being assembled.
This will allow us to derive methods of pseudobulge identification that
can be used to accurately count pseudobulges in large surveys. Aside
from our own science goals, we will
present this broad set of data to
the community. Thus, we waive
proprietary periods for all observations.
NIC3 11082
NICMOS Imaging of GOODS: Probing the Evolution of the
Earliest Massive
Galaxies, Galaxies Beyond Reionization, and the High Redshift
Obscured
Universe
(uses ACS/SBC and WFPC2)
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.
WFPC2 11022
WFPC2 Cycle 15 Decontaminations and Associated
Observations
This proposal is for the WFPC2 decons.
Also included are instrument
monitors tied to decons:
photometric stability check, focus monitor,
pre- and post-decon
internals {bias, intflats, kspots,
& darks}, UV
throughput check, VISFLAT sweep, and
internal UV flat check.
FGS 11018
Long Term Stability of FGS1r in Position Mode
It is known from our experience with FGS3, and later with
FGS1r, that an
FGS on orbit experiences long term evolution, presumably
due to
disorption of water from the instrument's
graphite epoxy composites. This
manifests principally as a change in the
plate scale and secondarily as a
change in the geometric distortions.
These effects are well modeled by
adjustments to the rhoA
and kA parameters which are used to transform
the star selector servo angles into
FGS {x, y} detector space
coordinates. By observing the relative
positions of selected stars in a
standard cluster at a fixed telescope
pointing and orientation, the
evolution of rhoA
and kA can be monitored and calibrated to preserve the
astrometric performance of FGS1r.
FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are
preliminary reports
of potential non-nominal
performance that will be investigated.)
HSTARS:
11041 REacq(2,1,2) failed to RGA Hold (Gyro Control) @ 301/0713z
Upon
acquisition of signal at 301/07:51:14, the REacq(2,1,2) had failed
to RGA Hold due to a stop flag indication on FGS-2. Prior
guide star
acquisition at 301/05:39:08 was successful. Pre-acq OBADs were not
scheduled. The spacecraft remained in
(T2GAttHd).Post-acquisition
OBAD/MAP at
301/07:21:25 had (RSS) value of 21.42 arcseconds.
OBAD
correction could not be performed prior to REacq at 301/08:49:44 due to
LOS. REacq(2,1,2) at 301/08:49:44 was successful.
COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)
COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)
SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL
FGS GSacq 28 28
FGS REacq 14 13
OBAD with Maneuver
74 74
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)
-
____________________________________________________________
Lynn F. Bassford
Hubble Space Telescope
CHAMP
CHAMP Flight Operations Team Manager
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