HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT       #4771

PERIOD COVERED: 5am January 13 - 5am January 14, 2009 (DOY

                           013/1000z-014/1000z)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

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 11944

Binaries at the Extremes of the H-R Diagram

We propose to use HST/Fine Guidance Sensor 1r to survey for binaries

among some of the most massive, least massive, and oldest stars in our

part of the Galaxy. FGS allows us to spatially resolve binary systems

that are too faint to observe using ground-based, speckle or optical

long baseline interferometry, and too close to resolve with AO. We

propose a SNAP-style program of single orbit FGS TRANS mode observations

of very massive stars in the cluster NGC 3603, luminous blue variables,

nearby low mass main sequence stars, cool subdwarf stars, and white

dwarfs. These observations will help us to (1) identify systems suitable

for follow up studies for mass determination, (2) study the role of

binaries in stellar birth and in advanced evolutionary states, (3)

explore the fundamental properties of stars near the main sequence-brown

dwarf boundary, (4) understand the role of binaries for X-ray bright

systems, (5) find binaries among ancient and nearby subdwarf stars, and

(6) help calibrate the white dwarf mass - radius relation.

WFPC2 11966

The Recent Star Formation History of SINGS Galaxies

The Spitzer Legacy project SINGS provided a unique view of the current

state of star formation and dust in a sample of galaxies of all Hubble

types. This multi-wavelength view allowed the team to create current

star formation diagnostics that are independent of the dust content and

increased our understanding of the dust in galaxies. Even so, using the

SINGS data alone we can only make rough estimates of the recent star

formation history of these galaxies. The lack of high resolution

observations (especially U-band and H-alpha) means that it is impossible

to estimate the ages of young clusters. In addition, the low resolution

of the Spitzer and ground-based observations means that what appear to

be individual Spitzer sources can actually be composed of many

individual clusters with varying ages. We need to know the ages, star

formation histories, and extinction of these individual clusters to

understand how these clusters form and age and thus influence the

evolution of the galaxy. In this proposal we address this missing area

of SINGS by obtaining high-resolution WFPC2 UBVI & H-alpha observations

to not only accurately locate and determine the ages of the young

stellar clusters in the actively star forming SINGS galaxies but to also

address a variety of other scientific issues. Over 500 HST orbits and

500 hours of Spitzter observing time have been dedicated to observations

of the SINGS sample. But the HST observations have not been systematic.

By adding a relatively small fraction of this time for these requested

observations, we will greatly enhance the legacy value of the SINGS

observations by creating a uniform high resolution multi-wavelength HST

archive that matches the quality of the lower resolution SINGS archive.

WFPC2 11968

The Light Echoes Around V838 Monocerotis: Cycle 16 DD

This is a DD program in which we propose to obtain WFPC2 imaging of the

light echo around V838 Mon in late 2008 or early 2009. We were awarded

Cycle 17 time to image the echo with ACS at 2 epochs (3+4 orbits). To

obtain data of similar quality with WFPC2 requires 7 orbits at 2

different pointings. Because of the SM4 delay, we are therefore

requesting a 14-orbit DD program for Cycle 16, leaving the Cycle 17

allocation unchanged for continued monitoring of the event in late 2009

and 2010.

V838 Monocerotis, which burst upon the astronomical scene in early 2002,

is a completely unanticipated new object. It underwent a large-amplitude

and very luminous outburst, during which its spectrum remained that of

an extremely cool supergiant. A rapidly evolving set of light echoes

around V838 Mon was discovered soon after the outburst, quickly becoming

the most spectacular display of the phenomenon yet seen. These light

echoes provide the means to accomplish three unique types of

measurements based on continued HST imaging: (1) study MHD turbulence at

high resolution and in 3 dimensions; (2) construct the first unambiguous

and fully 3-D map of a circumstellar dust envelope; (3) study dust

physics in a unique setting where the spectrum and light curve of the

illumination, and the scattering angle, are unambiguously known. We have

also used our HST data to determine the distance to V838 Mon through a

novel geometric technique.

Because of the extreme rarity of light echoes, this program of regular

monitoring provides the only opportunity to achieve such results during

the HST lifetime. We propose WFPC2 imaging in late 2008/early 2009, in

order to continue the mapping of the circumstellar dust and to

accomplish the other goals listed above.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports

of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.)

HSTARS:

11638 - GSAcq (1,3,3) scheduled from 10:00:51 - 10:08:12 failed to RGA Hold due

           to QF1STOPF & QSTOP flags on FGS-1.

           Observations affected: WFPC Proposal 11966, observation 56

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

                        SCHEDULED      SUCCESSFUL 

FGS GSacq               04                   03     

FGS REacq               10                   10  

OBAD with Maneuver 28                   28 

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)