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Daily Rpt #4440



 
 
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Old September 5th 07, 07:03 PM posted to sci.astro.hubble
Bassford, Lynn
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Posts: 44
Default Daily Rpt #4440

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*** # 4440

PERIOD COVERED: UT September 04, 2007 (DOY 247)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

WFPC2 11036

Red Leaks Closeout

We observe the star 15Mon with 8 UV filters to check the impact of
off-band flux {red-leak} in those filters. To derive the spectral
shape of the red-leak, we cross each of the UV filters with F814W and
F606W.

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.

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 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.

WFPC2 11038

Narrow Band and Ramp Filter Closeout

These observations are to improve calibration of narrow band and ramp
filters. We also test for changes in the filter properties during
WFPC2's 14 years on-board HST.

WFPC2 11201

Systemic and Internal motions of the Magellanic Clouds: Third Epoch
Images

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. These are by far the best determinations of
the proper motions of these two galaxies. The results have a number of
unexpected implications for the Milky Way-LMC-SMC system. The implied
three-dimensional velocities are larger than previously believed, and
are not much less than the escape velocity in a standard 10^12 solar
mass Milky Way dark halo. Orbit calculations suggest the Clouds may
not be bound to the Milky Way or may just be on their first passage,
both of which would be unexpected in view of traditional
interpretations of the Magellanic Stream. Alternatively, the Milky Way
dark halo may be a factor of 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 is
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 now request an epoch of WFPC2/PC data for the fields centered on 40
quasars that have at least one epoch of ACS imaging. We request
execution in snapshot mode, as in our previous programs, to ensure the
most efficient use of HST resources. A third epoch of data of these
fields will provide crucial information to verify that there are no
residual systematic effects in our previous measurements. More
importantly, it will increase the time baseline from 2 to 5 yrs and
will increase the number of fields with at least two epochs of data.
This will reduce our uncertainties correspondingly, so that we can
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 will allow us to
determine a distance to the LMC using rotational parallax.

WFPC2 11312

The Local Cluster Substructure Survey {LoCuSS}: Deep Strong Lensing
Observations with WFPC2

LoCuSS is a systematic and detailed investigation of the mass,
substructure, and thermodynamics of 100 X-ray luminous galaxy clusters
at 0.15z0.3. The primary goal is to test our recent suggestion that
this population is dominated by dynamically immature disturbed
clusters, and that the observed mass-temperature relation suffers
strong structural segregation. If confirmed, this would represent a
paradigm shift in our observational understanding of clusters, that
were hitherto believed to be dominated by mature, undisturbed systems.
We propose to complete our successful Cycle 15 program {SNAP:10881}
which prior to premature termination had delivered robust weak-lensing
detections in 17 clusters, and candidate strongly-lensed arcs in 11 of
these 17. These strong and weak lensing signals will give an accurate
measure of the total mass and structure of the dark matter
distribution that we will subsequently compare with X-ray and Sunyaev
Zeldovich Effect observables. The broader applications of our project
include 1} the calibration of mass-temperature and mass-SZE scaling
relations which will be critical for the calibration of proposed dark
energy experiments, and 2} the low redshift baseline study of the
demographics of massive clusters to aid interpretation of future high
redshift {z1} cluster samples. To complete the all-important high
resolution imaging component of our survey, we request deep WFPC2
observations of 20 clusters through the F606W filter, for which
wide-field weak-lensing data are already available from our Subaru
imaging program. The combination of deep WFPC2 and Subaru data for
these 20 clusters will enable us to achieve the science program
approved by the Cycle 15 TAC.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary
reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be
investigated.)

HSTARS:

10983 Loss of Lock - Without Acquisition Failure @ 247/2041z

GSAcq (1,2,1) at 247/19:45z was successful. At 247/20:13:57z began
flagging in and out of Gyro Control (RGA Only / FGS/RGA).
Additionally, Mnemonics FSUBLOL, FGSLOL, FGS_STAT began flagging in
and out indicating a possible Loss of Lock. At 247/20:41:56z TERM EXP
as scheduled. During this time FGS's maintained SCI INIT / LATCH on
acquisition.

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST:

18142-0 Another LBBIAS after long M2G interval @ 247/1038z
18140-1 Recover NICMOS from Safe to SAA Oper @ 247/1704z
18143-0 Enable NICMOS Buffer Boxes 1 & 3 @ 247/1709Z

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

**************************** SCHEDULED***** SUCCESSFUL*** Failure

FGS GSacq******************** 9*************** 9
FGS REacq******************** 5*************** 5
OBAD with Maneuver********** 28************** 28
Loss of Lock (LOL)***************************************** 1

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:

NICMOS Recovery to SAA Operate Flash Report

As of 247/17:04:35 UTC, NICMOS was brought up to its' SAA Operate
state. As expected, the Buffer Box 2 temperature remained below -12
degC (at -12.12 degC), so the Buffer Box commanding was skipped in the
SAA transition. At 247/17:09:22 UTC, Buffer Boxes 1 and 3 were powered
on in an effort to warm Buffer Box 2. Once the temperature is above
-12 degC, Buffer Box 2 will be powered on. As part of that effort, the
instrument will be briefly transitioned from SAA Operate to Operate
and back again to refresh the telemetry collection on all three Buffer
Boxes.





 




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