HUBBLE
SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science
DAILY
REPORT # 4509
PERIOD
COVERED: UT December 17, 2007 (DOY 351)
OBSERVATIONS
SCHEDULED
ACS/SBC
11225
The
Wavelength Dependence of Accretion Disk Structure
We
can now routinely measure the size of quasar accretion disks using
gravitational
microlensing of lensed quasars. The next step to testing
accretion
disk models is to measure the size of accretion disks as a
function
of wavelength, particularly at the UV and X-ray wavelengths
that
should probe the inner, strong gravity regime. Here we focus on two
four-image
quasar lenses that already have optical {R band} and X-ray
size
measurements using microlensing. We will combine the HST
observations
with ground-based monitoring to measure the disk size as a
function
of wavelength from the near-IR to the UV. We require HST to
measure
the image flux ratios in the ultraviolet continuum near the
Lyman
limit of the quasars. The selected targets have estimated black
hole
masses that differ by an order of magnitude, and we should find
wavelength
scalings for the two systems that are very different because
the
Blue/UV wavelengths should correspond to parts of the disk near the
inner
edge for the high mass system but not in the low mass system. The
results
will be modeled using a combination of simple thin disk models
and
complete relativistic disk models. While requiring only 18 orbits,
success
for one system requires observations in both Cycles 16 and 17.
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 composits. This
manifests
principly 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.
NIC1/NIC2/NIC3
8795
NICMOS Post-SAA calibration - CR Persistence Part 6
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 i
mages.
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.
NIC3
11107
Imaging
of Local Lyman Break Galaxy Analogs: New Clues to Galaxy
Formation
in the Early Universe
We
have used the ultraviolet all-sky imaging survey currently being
conducted
by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer {GALEX} to identify for the
first
time a rare population of low- redshift starbursts with properties
remarkably
similar to high-redshift Lyman Break Galaxies {LBGs}. These
"compact
UV luminous galaxies" {UVLGs} resemble LBGs in terms of size,
SFR,
surface brightness, mass, metallicity, kinematics, dust, and color.
The
UVLG sample offers the unique opportunity of investigating some very
important
properties of LBGs that have remained virtually inaccessible
at
high redshift: their morphology and the mechanism that drives their
star
formation. Therefore, in Cycle 15 we have imaged 7 UVLGs using ACS
in
order to 1} characterize their morphology and look for signs of
interactions
and mergers, and 2} probe their star formation histories
over
a variety of timescales. The images show a striking trend of
small-scale
mergers turning large amounts of gas into vigorous
starbursts
{a process referred to as dissipational or "wet" merging}.
Here,
we propose to complete our sample of 31 LBG analogs using the
ACS/SBC
F150LP {FUV} and WFPC2 F606W {R} filters in order to create a
statistical
sample to study the mechanism that triggers star formation
in
UVLGs and its implications for the nature of LBGs. Specifically, we
will
1} study the trend between galaxy merging and SFR in UVLGs, 2}
artificially
redshift the FUV images to z=1-4 and compare morphologies
with
those in similarly sized samples of LBGs at the same rest-frame
wavelengths
in e.g. GOODS, UDF, and COSMOS, 3} determine the presence
and
morphology of significant stellar mass in "pre-burst" stars, and 4}
study
their immediate environment. Together with our Spitzer
{IRAC+MIPS},
GALEX, SDSS and radio data, the HST observations will form
a
unique union of data that may for the first time shed light on how the
earliest
major episodes of star formation in high redshift galaxies came
about.
This proposal was adapted from an ACS HRC+WFC proposal to meet
the
new Cycle 16 observing constraints, and can be carried out using the
ACS/SBC
and WFPC2 without compromising our original science goals.
WFPC2
10915
ACS
Nearby Galaxy Survey
Existing
HST observations of nearby galaxies comprise a sparse and
highly
non-uniform archive, making comprehensive comparative studies
among
galaxies essentially impossible. We propose to secure HST's
lasting
impact on the study of nearby galaxies by undertaking a
systematic,
complete, and carefully crafted imaging survey of ALL
galaxies
in the Local Universe outside the Local Group. The resulting
images
will allow unprecedented measurements of: {1} the star formation
history
{SFH} of a >100 Mpc^3 volume of the Universe with a time
resolution
of Delta[log{t}]=0.25; {2} correlations between spatially
resolved
SFHs and environment; {3} the structure and properties of thick
disks
and stellar halos; and {4} the color distributions, sizes, and
specific
frequencies of globular and disk clusters as a function of
galaxy
mass and environment. To reach these goals, we will use a
combination
of wide-field tiling and pointed deep imaging to obtain
uniform
data on all 72 galaxies within a volume-limited sample extending
to
~3.5 Mpc, with an extension to the M81 group. For each galaxy, the
wide-field
imaging will cover out to ~1.5 times the optical radius and
will
reach photometric depths of at least 2 magnitudes below the tip of
the
red giant branch throughout the limits of the survey volume. One
additional
deep pointing per galaxy will reach SNR~10 for red clump
stars,
sufficient to recover the ancient SFH from the color-magnitude
diagram.
This proposal will produce photometric information for ~100
million
stars {comparable to the number in the SDSS survey} and uniform
multi-
color images of half a square degree of sky. The resulting
archive
will establish the fundamental optical database for nearby
galaxies,
in preparation for the shift of high- resolution imaging to
the
near-infrared.
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
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
11202
The
Structure of Early-type Galaxies: 0.1-100 Effective Radii
The
structure, formation and evolution of early-type galaxies is still
largely
an open problem in cosmology: how does the Universe evolve from
large
linear scales dominated by dark matter to the highly non-linear
scales
of galaxies, where baryons and dark matter both play important,
interacting,
roles? To understand the complex physical processes
involved
in their formation scenario, and why they have the tight
scaling
relations that we observe today {e.g. the Fundamental Plane}, it
is
critically important not only to understand their stellar structure,
but
also their dark-matter distribution from the smallest to the largest
scales.
Over the last three years the SLACS collaboration has developed
a
toolbox to tackle these issues in a unique and encompassing way by
combining
new non-parametric strong lensing techniques, stellar
dynamics,
and most recently weak gravitational lensing, with
high-quality
Hubble Space Telescope imaging and VLT/Keck spectroscopic
data
of early-type lens systems. This allows us to break degeneracies
that
are inherent to each of these techniques separately and probe the
mass
structure of early-type galaxies from 0.1 to 100 effective radii.
The
large dynamic range to which lensing is sensitive allows us both to
probe
the clumpy substructure of these galaxies, as well as their
low-density
outer haloes. These methods have convincingly been
demonstrated,
by our team, using smaller pilot-samples of SLACS lens
systems
with HST data. In this proposal, we request observing time with
WFPC2
and NICMOS to observe 53 strong lens systems from SLACS, to obtain
complete
multi-color imaging for each system. This would bring the total
number
of SLACS lens systems to 87 with completed HST imaging and
effectively
doubles the known number of galaxy-scale strong lenses. The
deep
HST images enable us to fully exploit our new techniques, beat down
low-number
statistics, and probe the structure and evolution of
early-type
galaxies, not only with a uniform data-set an order of
magnitude
larger than what is available now, but also with a fully
coherent
and self-consistent methodological approach!
WFPC2
11361
Hubble
Heritage Observations of Mars at 2007 Opposition
We
will obtain images of Mars at opposition in December 2007.
FLIGHT
OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
Significant
Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports
of
potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.)
HSTARS:
11105
- Firefox on SMORWS7 cannot install updates
When Firefox is opened on SMORWS7, it complains that it cannot
install
the updates that it had previously downloaded because Admin access
is
needed.
11106
- GSAcq(2,12) failed to RGA Hold(Gyro Control)
GSAcq(2,1,2) scheduled at 352/02:00:12 - 02:08:17 failed to RGA
Hold due
to (QF2STOPF) sto flag indication on FGS-2 during acquisition
walkdown.
Pre-acquisition OBADs had (RSS) values of 1136.36 and 9.50
arseconds.
Post-acq OBAD/MAP had 3-axis (RSS) value of 0.70 arcseconds. This
acquisition is in On Orbit FSW/FGE Hybrid Test Mode scheduled.
11107
- GSAcq(1,2,2) requires multiple attempts to achieve CT-DV
OTA SE review of PTAS processing data revealed that GSAcq(1,2,2)
required four attempts to achieve CT-DV on FGS1.
11108
- GSAcq(1,2,2) requires multiple attempts to achieve CT-DV
OTA SE review of PTAS processing revealed GSAcq(1,2,2) at
342/05:27:40
required several attempts to achieve CT-DV. The acquisition was
successful.
11109
- GSAcq(1,2,2) requires multiple attempts to achieve CT-DV
OTA SE review of PTAS processing reveals that GSAcq(1,2,2) at
342/07:02
required multiple attempts to achieve CT-DV. The acquisition was
successful.
COMPLETED
OPS REQUEST:
18054-0
- Preview KF Sun Vector Data via Telemetry Diags - 2 times
18164-0
- FSW/FGE hybrid mode on-orbit test commanding
17597-9
- FHST Stuck-on-Bottom Macro Execution
COMPLETED
OPS NOTES: (None)
SCHEDULED
SUCCESSFUL
FGS
GSacq
08
07
FGS
REacq
06
06
OBAD
with Maneuver
28
28
SIGNIFICANT
EVENTS:
The
FGS Hybrid mode was enabled in FSW at 351/12:50 this morning and the
first
FGS-2R Hybrid mode acquisition was successful at 351/13:20.
FGS-2R
performed Hydrid mode acquisitions throughout the day.
At
352/05:03 the FGE/FSW Hybrid Mode was disabled via Ops Request 18164.
The
TMDIAG locations were then restored to their nominal values for the
KF
sun vector data via generic ops request 18054. Nine of the 10 hybrid
mode
acquisitions were successful. The one failure was unrelated to
hybrid
mode performance. Initial analysis indicates that the hybrid mode
acquisitions
executed as expected. Additional data analysis will be
performed
by the OTA group and presented at the GSAWG meeting on
Wednesday.
The first post-hybrid acquisition at 352/05:14 was
successful.