HUBBLE
SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science
DAILY
REPORT #5144
PERIOD
COVERED: 5am July 22 - 5am July 23, 2010 (DOY 203/09:00z-204/09:00z)
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
6
6
FGS
REAcq
9
9
OBAD with
Maneuver
6
6
SIGNIFICANT
EVENTS: (None)
OBSERVATIONS
SCHEDULED:
COS/NUV
11894
NUV Detector
Dark Monitor
The purpose
of this proposal is to measure the NUV detector dark rate by
taking long
science exposures with no light on the detector. The
detector
dark rate and spatial distribution of counts will be compared
to
pre-launch and SMOV data in order to verify the nominal operation of
the
detector. Variations of count rate as a function of orbital position
will be
analyzed to find dependence of dark rate on proximity to the
SAA. Dependence
of dark rate as function of time will also be tracked.
COS/NUV/FUV
11728
The Impact
of Starbursts on the Gaseous Halos of Galaxies
Perhaps the
most important (yet uncertain) aspects of galaxy evolution
are the
processes by which galaxies accrete gas and by which the
resulting
star formation and black hole growth affects this accreting
gas. It is
believed that both the form of the accretion and the nature
of the
feedback change as a function of the galaxy mass. At low mass the
gas comes
in cold and the feedback is provided by massive stars. At high
mass, the
gas comes in hot, and the feedback is from an AGN. The
changeover
occurs near the mass where the galaxy population transitions
from
star-forming galaxies to red and dead ones. The population of red
and dead
galaxies is building with cosmic time, and it is believed that
feedback
plays an important role in this process: shutting down star
formation
by heating and/or expelling the reservoir of cold halo gas. To
investigate
these ideas, we propose to use COS far-UV spectra of
background
QSOs to measure the properties of the halo gas in a sample of
galaxies
near the transition mass that have undergone starbursts within
the past
100 Myr to 1 Gyr. The galactic wind associated with the
starburst
is predicted to have affected the properties of the gaseous
halo. To
test this, we will compare the properties of the halos of the
post-starburst
galaxies to those of a control sample of galaxies matched
in mass and
QSO impact parameter. Do the halos of the post-starburst
galaxies
show a higher incidence rate of Ly-Alpha and metal
absorption-lines?
Are the kinematics of the halo gas more disturbed in
the
post-starbursts? Has the wind affected the ionization state and/or
the metallicity
of the halo? These data will provide fresh new insights
into the
role of feedback from massive stars on the evolution of
galaxies,
and may also offer clues about the properties of the QSO metal
absorption-line
systems at high-redshift .
STIS/CC
11845
CCD Dark
Monitor Part 2
Monitor the
darks for the STIS CCD.
STIS/CC
11847
CCD Bias
Monitor-Part 2
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/MA1/MA2
11857
STIS Cycle
17 MAMA Dark Monitor
This
proposal monitors the behavior of the dark current in each of the
MAMA
detectors.
The basic
monitor takes two 1380s ACCUM darks each week with each
detector. However,
starting Oct 5, pairs are only included for weeks
that the
LRP has external MAMA observations planned. The weekly pairs of
exposures
for each detector are linked so that they are taken at
opposite
ends of the same SAA free interval. This pairing of exposures
will make
it easier to separate long and short term temporal variability
from
temperature dependent changes.
For both
detectors, additional blocks of exposures are taken once every
six months.
These are groups of five 1314s FUV-MAMA Time-Tag darks or
five 3x315s
NUV ACCUM darks distributed over a single SAA-free interval.
This will
give more information on the brightness of the FUV MAMA dark
current as
a function of the amount of time that the HV has been on, and
for the NUV
MAMA will give a better measure of the short term
temperature
dependence.
WFC3/ACS/UVIS
11613
GHOSTS:
Stellar Outskirts of Massive Spiral Galaxies
We propose
to continue our highly successful GHOSTS HST survey of the
resolved
stellar populations of nearby, massive disk galaxies using
SNAPs.
These observations provide star counts and color-magnitude
diagrams
2-3 magnitudes below the tip of the Red Giant Branch of the
outer disk
and halo of each galaxy. We will measure the metallicity
distribution
functions and stellar density profiles from star counts
down to
very low average surface brightnesses, equivalent to ~32 V-mag
per square
arcsec.
This
proposal will substantially improve our unique sampling of galaxy
outskirts. Our
targets cover a range in galaxy mass, luminosity,
inclination,
and morphology. As a function of these galaxy properties,
this survey
provides: - the most extensive, systematic measurement of
radial
light profiles and axial ratios of the diffuse stellar halos and
outer disks
of spiral galaxies; - a comprehensive analysis of halo
metallicity
distributions as function of galaxy type and position within
the galaxy;
- an unprecedented study of the stellar metallicity and age
distribution
in the outer disk regions where the disk truncations occur;
- the first
comparative study of globular clusters and their field
stellar
populations.
We will use
these fossil records of the galaxy assembly process to test
halo
formation models within the hierarchical galaxy formation scheme.
WFC3/IR
11696
Infrared
Survey of Star Formation Across Cosmic Time
We propose
to use the unique power of WFC3 slitless spectroscopy to
measure the
evolution of cosmic star formation from the end of the
reionization
epoch at z>6 to the close of the galaxy- building era at
z~0.3.Pure
parallel observations with the grisms have proven to be
efficient
for identifying line emission from galaxies across a broad
range of
redshifts. The G102 grism on WFC3 was designed to extend this
capability
to search for Ly-alpha emission from the first galaxies.
Using up to
250 orbits of pure parallel WFC3 spectroscopy, we will
observe
about 40 deep (4-5 orbit) fields with the combination of G102
and G141,
and about 20 shallow (2-3 orbit) fields with G141 alone.
Our primary
science goals at the highest redshifts are: (1) Detect Lya
in ~100
galaxies with z>5.6 and measure the evolution of the Lya
luminosity
function, independent of of cosmic variance; 2) Determine the
connection between
emission line selected and continuum-break selected
galaxies at
these high redshifts, and 3) Search for the proposed
signature
of neutral hydrogen absorption at re-ionization. At
intermediate
redshifts we will (4) Detect more than 1000 galaxies in
Halpha at
0.5<z<1.8 to measure the evolution of the extinction-corrected
star
formation density across the peak epoch of star formation. This is
over an
order-of-magnitude improvement in the current statistics, from
the NICMOS
Parallel grism survey. (5) Trace ``cosmic downsizing" from
0.5<z<2.2;
and (6) Estimate the evolution in reddening and metallicty in
star-
forming galaxies and measure the evolution of the Seyfert
population.
For hundreds of spectra we will be able to measure one or
even two
line pair ratios -- in particular, the Balmer decrement and
[OII]/[OIII]
are sensitive to gas reddening and metallicity. As a bonus,
the G102
grism offers the possibility of detecting Lya emission at
z=7-8.8.
To identify
single-line Lya emitters, we will exploit the wide
0.8--1.9um
wavelength coverage of the combined G102+G141 spectra. All
[OII] and
[OIII] interlopers detected in G102 will be reliably separated
from true
LAEs by the detection of at least one strong line in the G141
spectrum,
without the need for any ancillary data. We waive all
proprietary
rights to our data and will make high-level data products
available
through the ST/ECF.
WFC3/IR
11915
IR Internal
Flat Fields
This
program is the same as 11433 (SMOV) and depends on the completion
of the IR initial
alignment (Program 11425). This version contains three
instances
of 37 internal orbits: to be scheduled early, middle, and near
the end of
Cycle 17, in order to use the entire 110-orbit allocation.
In this
test, we will study the stability and structure of the IR
channel
flat field images through all filter elements in the WFC3-IR
channel.
Flats will be monitored, i.e. to capture any temporal trends in
the flat
fields and delta flats produced. High signal observations will
provide a
map of the pixel-to-pixel flat field structure, as well as
identify
the positions of any dust particles.
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/ACS/WFC/IR
12058
A
Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury - I
We propose
to image the north east quadrant of M31 to deep limits in the
UV, optical,
and near-IR. HST imaging should resolve the galaxy into
more than
100 million stars, all with common distances and foreground
extinctions.
UV through NIR stellar photometry (F275W, F336W with
WFC3/UVIS,
F475W and F814W with ACS/WFC, and F110W and F160W with
WFC3/NIR)
will provide effective temperatures for a wide range of
spectral
types, while simultaneously mapping M31's extinction. Our
central
science drivers are to: understand high-mass variations in the
stellar IMF
as a function of SFR intensity and metallicity; capture the
spatially-resolved
star formation history of M31; study a vast sample of
stellar
clusters with a range of ages and metallicities. These are
central to
understanding stellar evolution and clustered star formation;
constraining
ISM energetics; and understanding the counterparts and
environments
of transient objects (novae, SNe, variable stars, x-ray
sources,
etc.). As its legacy, this survey adds M31 to the Milky Way and
Magellanic
Clouds as a fundamental calibrator of stellar evolution and
star-formation
processes for understanding the stellar populations of
distant
galaxies. Effective exposure times are 977s in F275W, 1368s in
F336W,
4040s in F475W, 4042s in F814W, 699s in F110W, and 1796s in
F160W,
including short exposures to avoid saturation of bright sources.
These
depths will produce photon-limited images in the UV. Images will
be
crowding-limited in the optical and NIR, but will reach below the red
clump at
all radii. The images will reach the Nyquist sampling limit in
F160W,
F475W, and F814W.
WFC3/UVIS
11643
A Timeline
for Early-Type Galaxy Formation: Mapping the Evolution of
Star
Formation, Globular Clusters, Dust, and Black Holes
While
considerable effort has been devoted to statistical studies of the
origin of the
red sequence of galaxies, there has been relatively little
direct
exploration of galaxies transforming from late to early types.
Such
galaxies are identified by their post-starburst spectra, bulge-
dominated,
tidally-disturbed morphologies, and current lack of gas. We
are
constructing the first detailed timeline of their evolution onto the
red
sequence, pinpointing when star formation ends, nuclear activity
ceases,
globular clusters form, and the bulk of the merging progenitors'
dust
disappears. Here we propose to obtain HST and Chandra imaging of
nine
galaxies, whose wide range of post-starburst ages we have precisely
dated with
a new UV-optical technique and for which we were awarded
Spitzer
time. We will address 1) whether the black hole-bulge mass
relation
arises from nuclear feedback, 2) whether the bimodality of
globular
cluster colors is due to young clusters produced in galaxy
mergers,
and 3) what happens to the dust when late types merge to form
an early
type.
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
11908
Cycle 17:
UVIS Bowtie Monitor
Ground
testing revealed an intermittent hysteresis type effect in the
UVIS
detector (both CCDs) at the level of ~1%, lasting hours to days.
Initially
found via an unexpected bowtie-shaped feature in flatfield
ratios,
subsequent lab tests on similar e2v devices have since shown
that it is
also present as simply an overall offset across the entire
CCD, i.e.,
a QE offset without any discernable pattern. These lab tests
have
further revealed that overexposing the detector to count levels
several
times full well fills the traps and effectively neutralizes the
bowtie.
Each visit in this proposal acquires a set of three 3x3 binned
internal
flatfields: the first unsaturated image will be used to detect
any bowtie,
the second, highly exposed image will neutralize the bowtie
if it is present,
and the final image will allow for verification that
the bowtie
is gone.
-Lynn
NASA
office: 301-286-2876
__________________________________________________________
Lynn F. Bassford
Hubble Space Telescope
CHAMP Mission Operations Manager
CHAMP Flight Operations Team Manager
Lockheed Martin Mission Services (LMMS)
"...Hubble is the most
significant science instrument of all time in terms of its
productivity..." Scott Altman @12:45pm 5/21/9
STS-125 Senate Subcommittee Hearing