HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT      #4956

PERIOD COVERED: 5am October 21 - 5am October 22, 2009 (DOY294/09:00z-295/09:00z)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

ACS/WFC3 11879

CCD Daily Monitor (Part 1)

This program comprises basic tests for measuring the read noise and dark

current of the ACS WFC and for tracking the growth of hot pixels. The

recorded frames are used to create bias and dark reference images for

science data reduction and calibration. This program will be executed

four days per week (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) for the duration of Cycle 17. To

facilitate scheduling, this program is split into three proposals. This

proposal covers 352 orbits (22 weeks) from 31 August 2009 to 31 January

2010.

FGS 11785

Trigonometric Calibration of the Distance Scale for Classical Novae

The distance scale for classical novae is important for understanding

the stellar physics of their thermonuclear runaways, their contribution

to Galactic nucleosynthesis, and their use as extragalactic standard

candles. Although it is known that there is a relationship between their

absolute magnitudes at maximum light and their subsequent rates of

decline--the well-known maximum-magnitude rate-of-decline (MMRD)

relation--it is difficult to set the zero-point for the MMRD because of

the very uncertain distances of Galactic novae.

We propose to measure precise trigonometric parallaxes for the quiescent

remnants of the four nearest classical novae. We will use the Fine

Guidance Sensors, which are proven to be capable of measuring parallaxes

with errors of ~0.2 mas, well below what is possible from the ground.

NIC 11416

NICMOS Parallel Thermal Background

Characterize the stability of the HST+NCS+Instrument thermal emission as

seen by NICMOS on secular scales. The data will be obtained using NIC3

and the F222M filter and will run throughout the SMOV4 activities as a

pure parallel program.

NIC 11417

NICMOS Detector Read noise and Dark Current

The NICMOS detector characteristics will be monitored during the entire

extent of the SMOV4 through a set of dark exposures. This will also

allow a determination of the detector temperature from bias

measurements. The data should be obtained in SAA-free orbits,

approximately every 24 hours. In addition, the detector read noise and

the detector shading profiles will be measured once a week.

NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 11820

NICMOS Post-SAA Calibration - CR Persistence Part 7

Internals for CR persistence

STIS/CCD 11653

SAINTS - Supernova 1987A INTensive Survey

SAINTS is a program to observe SN 1987A, the brightest supernova since

1604, as it matures into the youngest supernova remnant at age 21. HST

is the essential tool for resolving SN1987A's many physical components.

A violent encounter is underway between the fastest-moving debris and

the circumstellar ring: shocks excite "hotspots." Radio, optical,

infrared and X-ray fluxes have been rising rapidly: we have organized

Australia Telescope, HST, VLT, Spitzer, and Chandra observations to

understand the several emission mechanisms at work. Photons from the

shocked ring will excite previously invisible gas outside the ring,

revealing the true extent of the mass loss that preceded the explosion

of Sanduleak -69 202. This will help test ideas for the progenitor of SN

1987A. The inner debris, excited by radioactive isotopes from the

explosion, is now resolved and seen to be aspherical, providing direct

evidence on the shape of the explosion itself. Questions about SN 1987A

remain unanswered. A rich and unbroken data set from SAINTS will help

answer these central questions and will build an archive for the future

to help answer questions we have not yet thought to ask.

STIS/CCD 11844

CCD Dark Monitor Part 1

The purpose of this proposal is to monitor the darks for the STIS CCD.

STIS/CCD 11846

CCD Bias Monitor-Part 1

The purpose of this proposal is to monitor the bias in the 1x1, 1x2,

2x1, and 2x2 bin settings at gain=1, and 1x1 at gain = 4, to build up

high-S/N superbiases and track the evolution of hot columns.

STIS/CCD/MA 11865

COS Flux Standard

Cross calibration of of STIS/COS in the UV. Measurement and verification

of CTE correction for the CCDs

WFC3/ACS/IR 11142

Revealing the Physical Nature of Infrared Luminous Galaxies at 0.3<z<2.7

Using HST and Spitzer

We aim to determine physical properties of IR luminous galaxies at

0.3<z<2.7 by requesting coordinated HST/NIC2 and MIPS 70um observations

of a unique, 24um flux-limited sample with complete Spitzer mid-IR

spectroscopy. The 150 sources investigated in this program have S(24um)

> 0.8mJy and their mid-IR spectra have already provided the majority

targets with spectroscopic redshifts (0.3<z<2.7). The proposed

150~orbits of NIC2 and 66~hours of MIPS 70um will provide the physical

measurements of the light distribution at the rest-frame ~8000A and

better estimates of the bolometric luminosity. Combining these

parameters together with the rich suite of spectral diagnostics from the

mid-IR spectra, we will (1) measure how common mergers are among LIRGs

and ULIRGs at 0.3<z<2.7, and establish if major mergers are the drivers

of z>1 ULIRGs, as in the local Universe, (2) study the co-evolution of

star formation and blackhole accretion by investigating the relations

between the fraction of starburst/AGN measured from mid-IR spectra vs.

HST morphologies, L(bol) and z, and (3) obtain the current best

estimates of the far-IR emission, thus L(bol) for this sample, and

establish if the relative contribution of mid-to-far IR dust emission is

correlated with morphology (resolved vs. unresolved).

WFC3/IR 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

WFC3 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!

WFC3/IR 11927

WFC3 IR Persistence Check

To verify the time constant and photometric effect of image peristence

of the IR detector

WFC3/IR/S/C 11929

IR Dark Current Monitor

Analyses of ground test data showed that dark current signals are more

reliably removed from science data using darks taken with the same

exposure sequences as the science data, than with a single dark current

image scaled by desired exposure time. Therefore, dark current images

must be collected using all sample sequences that will be used in

science observations. These observations will be used to monitor changes

in the dark current of the WFC3-IR channel on a day-to-day basis, and to

build calibration dark current ramps for each of the sample sequences to

be used by GOs in Cycle 17. For each sample sequence/array size

combination, a median ramp will be created and delivered to the

calibration database system (CDBS).

WFC3/UV 11730

Continued Proper Motions of the Magellanic Clouds: Orbits, Internal

Kinematics, and Distance

In Cycles 11 and 13 we obtained two epochs of ACS/HRC data for fields in

the Magellanic Clouds centered on background quasars. We used these data

to determine the proper motions of the LMC and SMC to better than 5% and

15% respectively. The results had a number of unexpected implications

for the Milky Way-LMC-SMC system and received considerable attention in

the literature and in the press. The implied three-dimensional

velocities are larger than previously believed and close to the escape

velocity in a standard 10^12 solar mass Milky Way dark halo. Our orbit

calculations suggest the Clouds may not be bound to the Milky Way or may

just be on their first passage, both of which are unexpected in view of

traditional interpretations of the Magellanic Stream. Alternatively, the

Milky Way dark halo may be a factor two more massive than previously

believed, which would be surprising in view of other observational

constraints. Also, the relative velocity between the LMC and SMC was

larger than expected, leaving open the possibility that the Clouds may

not be bound to each other. To further verify and refine our results we

requested an additional epoch data in Cycle 16 which is being executed

with WFPC2/PC due to the failure of ACS. A detailed analysis of one LMC

field shows that the field proper motion using all three epochs of data

is consistent within 1-sigma with the two-epoch data, thus verifying

that there are no major systematic effects in our previous measurements.

The random errors, however, are only smaller by a factor of 1.4 because

of the relatively large errors in the WFPC2 data. A prediction for a

fourth epoch with measurement errors similar to epochs 1 and 2 shows

that the uncertainties will improve by a factor of 3. This will allow us

to better address whether the Clouds are indeed bound to each other and

to the Milky Way. It will also allow us to constrain the internal

motions of various populations within the Clouds, and to determine a

distance to the LMC using rotational parallax. Continuation of this

highly successful program is therefore likely to provide important

additional insights. Execution in SNAPshot mode guarantees maximally

efficient use of HST resources.

WFC3/UV/ACS/WFC 11688

Exploring the Bottom End of the White Dwarf Cooling Sequence in the Open

Cluster NGC6819

The recent discovery by our group of an unexpectedly bright end of the

white-dwarf (WD) luminosity function (LF) of the metal-rich, old open

cluster NGC 6791 casts serious doubts on our understanding of the

physical process which rules the formation and the cooling of WDs. It is

clear at this point that the theory badly needs more observations. Here

we propose WFC3/UVIS and ACS/WFC HST observations reaching the bottom

end of the WD LF, for the first time in a solar-metallicity,

2.5-Gyr-old, populous open cluster: NGC 6819.

WFC3/UVIS 11905

WFC3 UVIS CCD Daily Monitor

The behavior of the WFC3 UVIS CCD will be monitored daily with a set of

full-frame, four-amp bias and dark frames. A smaller set of 2Kx4K

subarray biases are acquired at less frequent intervals throughout the

cycle to support subarray science observations. The internals from this

proposal, along with those from the anneal procedure (Proposal 11909),

will be used to generate the necessary superbias and superdark reference

files for the calibration pipeline (CDBS).

WFC3/UVIS 11907

UVIS Cycle 17 Contamination Monitor

The UV throughput of WFC3 during Cycle 17 is monitored via weekly

standard star observations in a subset of key filters covering 200-600nm

and F606W, F814W as controls on the red end. The data will provide a

measure of throughput levels as a function of time and wavelength,

allowing for detection of the presence of possible contaminants.

WFC3/UVIS/IR 11644

A Dynamical-Compositional Survey of the Kuiper Belt: A New Window Into

the Formation of the Outer Solar System

The eight planets overwhelmingly dominate the solar system by mass, but

their small numbers, coupled with their stochastic pasts, make it

impossible to construct a unique formation history from the dynamical or

compositional characteristics of them alone. In contrast, the huge

numbers of small bodies scattered throughout and even beyond the

planets, while insignificant by mass, provide an almost unlimited number

of probes of the statistical conditions, history, and interactions in

the solar system. To date, attempts to understand the formation and

evolution of the Kuiper Belt have largely been dynamical simulations

where a hypothesized starting condition is evolved under the

gravitational influence of the early giant planets and an attempt is

made to reproduce the current observed populations. With little

compositional information known for the real Kuiper Belt, the test

particles in the simulation are free to have any formation location and

history as long as they end at the correct point. Allowing compositional

information to guide and constrain the formation, thermal, and

collisional histories of these objects would add an entire new dimension

to our understanding of the evolution of the outer solar system. While

ground based compositional studies have hit their flux limits already

with only a few objects sampled, we propose to exploit the new

capabilities of WFC3 to perform the first ever large-scale

dynamical-compositional study of Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) and their

progeny to study the chemical, dynamical, and collisional history of the

region of the giant planets. The sensitivity of the WFC3 observations

will allow us to go up to two magnitudes deeper than our ground based

studies, allowing us the capability of optimally selecting a target list

for a large survey rather than simply taking the few objects that can be

measured, as we have had to do to date. We have carefully constructed a

sample of 120 objects which provides both overall breadth, for a general

understanding of these objects, plus a large enough number of objects in

the individual dynamical subclass to allow detailed comparison between

and within these groups. These objects will likely define the core

Kuiper Belt compositional sample for years to come. While we have many

specific results anticipated to come from this survey, as with any

project where the field is rich, our current knowledge level is low, and

a new instrument suddenly appears which can exploit vastly larger

segments of the population, the potential for discovery -- both

anticipated and not -- is extraordinary.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports

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

HSTARS:

For Day 278:

12049 - GSAcq(1,2,1), scheduled for 278/05:08:38z lost lock shortly after

           a successful acquisition. Both FGS 1 and 2 returned to default at

           278/05:16:26z.

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

                       SCHEDULED      SUCCESSFUL

FGS GSAcq               11                  11                  

FGS REAcq               05                  05                

OBAD with Maneuver 08                  08              

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)